


Gotham City Secret Origins: The Beginning

by TheBlackBat



Series: Gotham City Secret Origins [1]
Category: DCU - Comicverse, Glee
Genre: Crossover, F/F, Supergirl! Quinn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-03-30
Updated: 2012-06-23
Packaged: 2017-11-02 18:48:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 62,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/372172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBlackBat/pseuds/TheBlackBat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Glee/DCU Xover </p>
<p>Supergirl has made Gotham City her new home under the guise of Quinn Fabray. Trying to find her own way in the world, how will she react when she becomes inevitably drawn to one Rachel Berry? Meanwhile Rachel has to navigate Gotham City, school, and magick! Find out how a journey to find her mother leads to becoming the magickal apprentice to Zatanna, Mistress of Magic.</p>
<p>Quinn also has to deal with her newest best friend Santana Lopez, whose secrets seem to run as deep as her own. Will Santana ever find peace after her parents' murder? Let's not forget the mysterious blonde thief that Santana keeps running into. What or who is she after and what's her connection with Santana and the Royal Flush Gang? </p>
<p>Together, these heroines will become legends... but this is only the beginning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Supergirl's Night Off

**Author's Note:**

> So here we are guys! Slowly bringing my fics from FF on to here. This is chapter is the oneshot that started this whole thing.
> 
> If you have any ideas or comments; things from either fandom that you want to see just let me know.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Supergirl gets a night off and the last place she wants to be is at a magic show. Unfortunately for her, Santana doesn't take no for an answer. But will Quinn Fabray find more than she bargained for in the form of Zatanna's newest ASSistant, Rachel Berry?

**Issue #0 Part 1**

**Supergirl's Night Off**

Quinn let out a heavy sigh as they were being seated at the table. She didn't know why she had allowed Santana to coerce her into going to Zatanna's magic show. It wasn't like she didn't already know Zatanna or hadn't already witnessed her in action. But that was Supergirl's experience in working with the witch, not Quinn Fabray's. So she guessed that using that excuse wasn't really an option.

Normally the girl wouldn't have minded being dragged around the city by her friend, but she hated magic. It was chaotic, powerful and unpredictable. Watching a show that constantly reminded her of one of her only weaknesses? Not really on the top of her list of things to do. The temperamental brunette beside her saw the look of discontent on her face.

"Look Q, I know this wasn't exactly the plan for tonight, I actually wanted to hit up some strip clubs or gay bars, you know, get you some action to loosen you up but Renee has all the good places on watch for me… That's what I get for having a cousin in the GCPD, right? Anyways I know this magic trick shit is never really believable but I swear, Zatanna is the real fucking deal."

"San, I'm fine! And I do NOT need to any action. Honestly, I don't need to be cheered up, it's just… school stuff, it's got me really tired lately." The weak excuse didn't seem to convince her friend but Quinn couldn't just tell her that she spent most of her hours saving people in need and beating the shit out of badly dressed super villains. Even with her superpowers and alien physiology, the workload was exhausting.

"Yeah, right," Santana scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Quinn, you do need to get laid or something, you're as repressed as Zatanna's legs in those fish-nets. Really, really sexy, but sometimes you just need to let them be free…"

Quinn watched as her friend's mind drifted off to a very dirty place, the analogy quickly turning into some sort disturbing of fantasy in the brunette's mind. It was funny though, Quinn would have never pegged the other girl for having a hero crush on Zatanna, Mistress of Magic. She thought blondes were more Santana's type.

Shaking her head, she finally decided to enjoy the rest of her night. This was after all the first night off she had in ages, with Gotham getting more organized with Bruce's return, Supergirl was finally able to take a rest and let Quinn Fabray have fun… If only Quinn would let herself have fun.

The lights dimmed suddenly and the blonde nudged her friend lightly. Santana wiped her drool and they waited for the show to start. Smoke began to fill the stage, setting the mystical atmosphere and Quinn wished that they sat further away from the stage.

"Welcome one and all to the realm of magick and the supernatural. Please suspend any disbelief for the next hour and enjoy the show!"

The spotlight shone down on the stage before a smoke pellet exploded, allowing Zatanna to appear 'magically'. Quinn didn't really understand the witch's desire to use both mortal slight of hands and real magic but she had to admit that if she were human, she wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

The Mistress of Magic looked out into the crowd and saw Supergirl in the audience. Sending a sly wink her way, Zatanna continued her show.

"It seems like we have a special guest today." Quinn had a bad feeling about this. Zatanna wouldn't try anything would she? "Tonight's the first night that my new assistant will help me on stage. This is the girl that will leave you no doubt that AMAZING things come in small packages… Everybody please give a round of applause for the magical, the mystical: Rachel Berry!"

Quinn sighed in relief, but once Zatanna's assistant walked on stage, the blonde found that she wasn't able to breath in again. The rest of the world seemed to shift out of view and all Quinn could see was Rachel Berry. The girl was dressed almost exactly like her mentor magician on stage but was much shorter, even in heeled boots. Waves of brown locks cascaded from the top hat on her head, framing her face perfectly. Deep chocolate orbs caught Quinn's hazel ones and both girls were lost. They both seemed to be under a spell, and Quinn didn't mind a bit.

The moment of pure magic, without actual magic involved, was broken once Zatanna got Rachel started with the first part of the performance.

A quiet yelp of pain stole Quinn's attention and she turned to see Santana holding her drink to her hand. "Jesus Q, do you have like metal plates for abs or something? I've been nudging you for the last five minutes."

She murmured a hushed apology but the other girl waved it off. "You see the legs on Zatanna's new assistant. Damn, never thought the magic would be how her legs could go on for miles with her being such a midget." Rachel had turned her back on the audience to tie up Zatanna for the next trick. "Wow now I know why she's called the  _ASS_ istant…"

Quinn frowned at Santana's lewd comments but turned her attention once again on the mysterious girl on stage. Now that Santana pointed out the assistant's lower assets, Quinn found that she couldn't keep her eyes off of them. Maybe magic  _wasn't_ so bad after all. Then Rachel just  ** _had_**  to drop the keys, bending down to reach retrieve them, the Kryptonian nearly fainted from the shock.

"Dear Rao." she whimpered.

'I must not use x-ray vision, I must not use x-ray vision, I must not use x-ray vision…' became the mantra that Quinn forced herself to repeat in her mind just to make it through the rest of the show.

* * *

**Please Read and Review!**

***edited 09/26/12**


	2. The Origin Tales: Santana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How does the high class orphan end up in the midst of Gotham Central? Santana Lopez lost her entire world in one night and only has her own rage as her comfort. Can Renee Montoya, the cousin who took her in, straighten her up?

Issue #0 (Part 2 of 5)

The Origin Tales: Santana

You Can Take the Girl Outta Gotham Heights Adjacent but You Can't Take the Gotham Heights Adjacent Outta the Girl

The streets of Gotham were eerily quiet tonight. Although it was three in the morning, silence was not a very comforting thing to have in the dark city. Silence usually meant one of the city's many resident sociopathic criminals was plotting something big. Silence meant that the Batman was out there putting a stop to it or that he already had ended the threat which to most citizens of Gotham was a possibility that was just as scary.

Santana didn't care about any of that though, instead she was trying to ignore the spinning world around her as she stumbled down the street towards her new place.

She couldn't quite call it home just yet.

Home was her Mami making breakfast for her on Sunday mornings before church and then yelling at her to get her ass ready before she came up to beat her ass.

Home was her Papi's big bear hugs every time he got back from a hard day at the hospital. Home was Mami tapping her head in stern warning after Santana let loose a swear (which happened all to often).

Home was her Papi putting a bandaid on her knee when she came back from school after she fell at her first cheerleading practice (he always said that kisses were the best medicine and he always kissed her boo-boos.)

Home sure as hell wasn't a shitty old one bedroom apartment in downtown Gotham that was conveniently a walk away from the best dive bars and gay clubs in the city, but Santana would take what she could get. So armed with a wounded soul and a trusty fake ID, she enjoyed a night of frivolous acts of drunkenness, shameless flirting and frivolous acts of drunken, shameless flirting.

And that leads us to where she is now, swaying back to her cousin Renee's apartment hoping she would get there before the detective woke up for her morning routine. Santana considered herself lucky that Renee was working late for the last couple of days or else she wouldn't be able to sneak out to the bars that her cousin frequented. The young brunette was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't see nor did she hear the group of thugs that snuck up behind her until one of them wolf-whistled.

"Hey Chica! Looks like you need a little help there… Why don't we take you home and let's have us a little  _fun_." Even in her drunken state, Santana could still feel the dirty thoughts going through each of their minds.

As she staggered to a fighting pose, Santana looked around to see what she was up against. If she were sober she would've seen that the odds were clearly against her and the girl would have wisely sought out the quickest escape route. Of course, being in the extremely inebriated state she was in, she just smirked and flashed the creeps both of her middle fingers.

"You wants to be getting at this, motherfuckers? Go ahead and try. See this weave? I gots razorblades all up in that shit and I ain't afraid to use them. Fucking creep-cughcuh-  _*gasps*_." Santana was cut off as the man who approached her gave a bone-chilling smile at the challenge and rushed up to grab her throat.

Leaning close to her ear, the man let loose a harsh laugh as the men formed a semi-circle around them, "You think you're so tough? Okay fine... be tough. Actually I like them feisty. You know why?" Santana gave an involuntary shiver of fear while struggling for air but refused to answer him. The man licked her earlobe and smiled lecherously. "Because it makes it even more delicious to taste once they  _finally_ break…" He moved his face down from her ears to her lips intent on taking them with his own.

As his lips drew closer to hers, Santana stopped struggling and the man shut his eyes. 'Big mistake,' thought the girl as she drove her knee straight up in between his legs.

"Aiiiiii-" Her attacker immediately dropped both his arms in an effort to comfort the sudden displacement of his genitalia while his voice hit all the wrong soprano notes.

The guy nearest to him moved to grab her. "I'll get you, you little- AHHH!"

Santana moved first, feeling a sobering adrenaline rush hit her, adding a bout of clarity to her alcohol filled daze. Lunging with precision, she hit the man with a punch to the throat before kicking him in the stomach. The force was enough to send thug number two down to the floor and Santana reached a hand to her weave.

"Holy shit, you really have a fucking razorblade up there? Crazy bitch!" Sure enough the girl had pulled out a smartly concealed razorblade from her weave and managed to look intimidating. Unfortunately it wasn't enough for the bigger man to surrender, which was fine for Santana because she was looking to bust some balls.

All of a sudden his eyes grew wide with genuine fear. The girl noted that a pool of liquid began to appear around his legs and let out a yelp of disgust. "Ew. That's nasty dude."

BAM!

The loud noise made Santana turn around and she realized that all the men were now unconscious or tied up.

"HEEEELLLP!"

If she were sober, Santana would have been able to turn around quicker, but she was still aware that anymore fast movements could leave her heaving in the dumpster. When she finally got a look at the man who pissed his pants, he was also unconscious and badly bruised.

"Are you okay?" The growling voice behind her startled Santana and she jumped.

The sight that beheld her was truly unbelievable. The Batman was the one who just saved her drunk ass and he was asking if she was alright. It left Santana wondering if this was just an alcohol-induced dream. "Holy motherfucker, Batman! Yo-you're real! You're fucking real and you're a-a dude in a bat suit…"

The urban myth of Batman in Gotham made the vigilante seem more of an avenging monster who never slept than an actual human being. Santana never really cared for superhero gossip unless it included photos of some of their costumes (can you say hnnng?). She didn't know what the Batman was but seeing the ridiculous bat suit for herself made her realize he was just a crazy motherfucker who dressed like a bat. The guy had nothing to say to that and looked like he was going to leave but Santana wasn't done with him.

"So... you don't really talk that much either? And what's up with that growly thing you just did? How the hell did you pull that off? Cuz when I was in show choir I'd like smoke a cigar a day to get the whole 'Amy Winehouse' vibe… Do you do that too?"

Santana was shaking now, feeling the adrenaline wear off. The weight of what could have happened to her was heavy and she couldn't help but think that she might have met the same end as her parents. The bastard didn't have the decency to answer Santana and just took out some sort of claw hair-dryer thingie. He was about to fire it at a rooftop when the annoyed girl finally broke.

"Why'd you save me?" Her eyes began to burn as the make-up and sweat mixed with her tears. Batman hesitated and waited for the girl to finish."Why did you save me and not them? Huh? Javier and Maribel Lopez? They were innocent and good… and they deserved to have been saved. A hell of a lot more than I do. Why couldn't you save them? ANSWER ME YOU BASTARD!"

The street was quiet again; Batman remained silent as Santana let go of her pent-up anger and sadness, but he made no effort to leave. The sound of sirens broke the spell and Santana got up to make a run for Renee's apartment leaving the Dark Knight alone.

"I'm sorry." The gravelly voice whispered out before the speaker fled the scene, leaving the unconscious thugs to the GCPD.

* * *

Santana was confident that she had successfully snuck back into the dark apartment and after all the excitement; she was looking forward to crashing her sofa-bed. Unfortunately, the kitchen light turning on interrupted her tiptoeing across the floor and proved the teen wrong.

"And where the hell were you?" Her cousin sat by the kitchen with crossed arms and an expectant look on her face.

Uh oh.

"Oh shit, you're awake?"

"Yeah 'Oh shit' I'm awake. Now answer the damn question. I hear sirens nearby and wake up to see you gone with no note or text message left behind. Do you know how worried I was, Santana?"

"I'm back, I'm alive and I'm fricking eighteen years old. Just leave me alone."

Santana stumbled to the couch causing both Renee's eyebrow and her anger to rise to new levels. "Yeah? Looks like you're drunk too. The legal limit in America is twenty-one, smartass. You know what that means  _cousin_?"

"What? Does it mean I'm grounded,  _Mami_?" Santana joked from her spot on the couch, half-conscious from her late night activites.

Renee's eyes narrowed instantly. "Yes, that means you're grounded. And you can forget about coming with me to the Police Charity Ball tomorrow."

"WHAT?" The punishment was enough of a shock to give Santana a "5 hour energy" jolt. "You can't do that, Renee! I've been waiting weeks for this thing! Bruce Wayne is going to be there!  _Bruce Wayne!_ Not to mention the Kane's and the other rich and famous bastards attending. And besides I'm eighteen! Legal adult here, you can't just be going around telling me what to do just cuz I live with you now. _"_

"Yeah, you're eighteen, but guess what. Until you're inheritance is straightened out by the lawyers you're living under  _my roof_ on  _my couch_ , mooching off of  _my money_  and eating  _my food_. So yeah, it's also my rules. You're not going tomorrow and until you tell me how you're still getting into those bars without a valid ID, you're not allowed to leave this place after seven."

"You can't stop me from going, Put-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll have your picture sent to every one of those clubs and bars with a police warning not to let you in… EVER."

Renee noted smugly that the threat shut her younger cousins big mouth instantly. It was then she noticed the trail of mascara that was running down Santana's face and the bruises forming on her neck.

"Santana? What happened out there?"

If Santana were sober, she wouldn't ever admit that the night had affected her the way it did but clearly everything added up and erupted as she burst into tears, mumbling incoherent grievances into her cousin's shoulder.

The sun was rising when Santana finally stopped sobbing and Renee was grateful for the day off she had because of the Police Charity Ball. She could feel that her little cousin was still awake and shifted her so she could fall asleep better.

"I haven't seen you cry this much since…" The memory was left unspoken aloud, visions of the recent funeral filled the minds of both women and neither wanted to relive them.

"I know." Santana answered. "Thanks for… ya know. Being there or whatever."

Renee snickered at her cousin's attempt at gratitude. Even when she was thanking someone, Santana still had the ability to sound like a little shit. 'Some things never change,' thought the GCPD detective. She didn't say anything out loud but merely tightened her hold on the younger girl.

They stayed in silence for a little while and before Renee got up to get to her own bed, she pecked Santana on the forehead. "You know this doesn't get you any closer to coming with me to Police Charity Ball right?"

A mumbled 'Fuck you' followed by a soft snore made Renee smile.

* * *

The ball went off flawlessly in Detective Renee Montoya's opinion. Of course flawless just meant that no batshit (no pun intended) crazy psychos were crashing the party. That didn't mean however, that the mayor wasn't so drunk off his ass that he tripped over air twice in front of the paparazzi or that Bruce Wayne wasn't shamelessly hitting on every piece of hot ass he could find. Renee was actually amazed that some of his lines actually worked on the bimbos but it didn't really matter to her. Catching a glimpse at one of the billionaire's many eager beauties, Renee tried to convince herself she wasn't jealous of his skills. Lucky, rich son of a bitch…

She just wished that a certain red-headed Kane were here too. Not that she would ever admit that to herself.

A different but still familiar flash of red caught Renee's eye and she frowned. It couldn't be.

The detective got a closer look. Of course it could be.

"Santana Maria Lopez!"

"Aww shit."

"You really didn't think I wouldn't recognize the red prom dress I spent hours looking for, with you? What part of 'You're not allowed to go' is so hard to understand?" Renee paused her lecture to look around. The security was still as tough as she remembered. "How in the world did you get in here anyways? Invite only."

Santana smirked. "Please Renee, I come from a little place on the wrong side of the tracks, Gotham Heights Adjacent. You learn a couple of things there. Only the strong survive down in the Heights Adjacent."

Unimpressed, Renee scoffed and crossed her arms. "So you use these possibly illegal skills you picked up in one of the fanciest high class suburbs in Gotham City to break into the biggest Police charity event in Gotham? Smart girl."

Santana was about to give a smartass reply but they were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Well I don't know about that, Detective Montoya. Those Gotham Heights Adjacent kids were tough when I was in school."

Bruce Wayne was there in front of them smiling charmingly at both women, his gang of groupies were dispersed throughout the hall and only his butler was by his side.

"Mr. Wayne. I didn't know you knew who I was." Renee cursed her reddening face. For God's sake, she wasn't even straight!

"Detective Montoya, may I call you Renee? I try to keep track of the beautiful women at these parties and you my dear, easily make the top five." Bruce finished his line with a lazy wink getting closer to the woman.

The pair of cousins rolled their eyes in tandem, both not understanding how girls could fall for that load of bullshit.

"Sorry, not interested." Renee quickly shut the man down but raised her defences once she saw the billionaire playboy shift his gaze from her to her younger cousin. Stepping in front of Santana, the detective lightly pushed Bruce back. "Mr. Wayne, I know you may be used to getting what you want, but setting your sights on my eighteen year-old cousin after hitting on me is low even from a sleazy man-whore like you."

Bruce's eyes shot straight up and Santana's jaw unhinged. Renee got her bearings back and shot her hand to cover her mouth once she realized what she had said.

"I'm sorry, Detective Montoya but I think you may have misinterpreted something." He paused to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I actually wanted to give Ms. Lopez my condolences. Her father was the best doctor at Gotham Central Hospital and studied under my Dad's tutelage years ago. I used to meet with him whenever I made donations to the hospital."

Santana watched her older cousin turn bright red and ramble. "Oh! I-I'm so sorry about that it's just I'm really tired and I- I'm just-"

"Overprotective?" Bruce finished for her, eyebrows raised in amusement.

" _Please_  don't tell Commissioner Gordon." She uncharacteristically begged before disappearing in total humiliation.

Santana sniggered at Renee's retreat but then she noticed that Bruce was still staring at her.

"Is your older cousin always so…"

"Unbelievably bitchy and blunt with a tendency to put a foot in her mouth?" answered Santana, "Yeah she is. It kind of runs in the family."

Bruce scratched his head in confusion. "Funny, you're dad was one of the most gentle people I've ever met."

Santana smiled wistfully. "Yeah he was… But apparently you've never had the  _pleasure_ of meeting my mother. That's how Ren- Detective Montoya and me are related. Her dad is my mom's older brother. Consider yourself lucky that you've never seen our moms in the same room together."

"I take it they didn't get along?"

The girl laughed. "That's an understatement, if they were in the same house it was almost a guarantee that they would be fighting like it was World War III. Our dads would just take us outside whenever that happened."

The billionaire's eyes softened as he listened to Santana reminisce. "I really am sorry for your loss Ms. Lopez. I… I understand what it's like to lose parents to a violent crime."

Santana looked into Bruce's eyes and saw a sincere understanding that she never saw before. There was also a scary intensity there that seemed familiar but Santana dismissed it and broke eye contact. "Yeah well thanks. For understanding that is. You know you get all these 'My condolences' from all these people who would normally not give a shit about you or just don't really get  _it._ But I know you've gone through the same thing so… thanks."

She received a smile in return and for once it was genuine and not sleazy or intentionally charming. Bruce pulled out a card and wrote a number on the back before handing it to her. "This is my card and my personal phone number. If you need anything, anything at all just give me a call okay?"

Bruce disappeared into the crowd before Santana could form a reply. She was frozen, looking at the card as if it were a magic lamp.

'Of course I accept the fact that I'm a lesbian and  _then_ I get a billionaire's personal phone number.' She thought to herself while cursing her luck and sexual orientation.

It was then that a beautiful blonde bombshell strutted across the hall in the distance, heading to the dance floor and catching Santana's lustful eye. All thoughts of cursing her lesbianism shot out the door as she raced to the centre of the hall to get a closer look at the bewitching blonde.

Right before she made it to the dance floor, a hand grabbed Santana's arm pulling her away from her desired destination. Looking up at her cock-blocker she sneered at the familiar face.

"Really, Santana? You convince me to take you, my  _ex-girlfriend_  to this stupid Charity thing and then you ditch me the whole time? Shit's not kosher."

Santana glanced at the dance floor and realized the girl had disappeared. Furious, she began hitting the man who grabbed her.

"GODAMMIT PUCK!"

* * *

Meanwhile a figure close by watched the fiery girl beat up her date with interest.

"A little too young for you isn't she, Bruce?"

The man in question gave a hollow chuckle. "Seems more like your type, Dick."

Dick Grayson slapped his former mentor in the back jokingly. "Aw come on Bruce, you know I got a love for the redheads."

They both paused the conversation to listen to the short-tempered teen fling off an impressive array of insults each more cutting than the last.

"Yikes, I wouldn't want to be that poor guy." Dick winced and then looked at Bruce curiously. "Seriously though, what's up with the girl?"

"Her name is Santana Lopez. Her parents were murdered recently. Her dad was Dr. Javier Lopez, he was a doctor at GCH."

Dick nodded in recognition. The story seemed similar to their own tragic pasts. "Potential recruit?"

Bruce shook his head, still not sure of her intent and abilities. "Maybe. More like a potential danger, both to herself and to others."

"Woah... kind of extreme don't you think?" Dick looked over to the pair again. Santana had stopped her attack on the guy but still seemed pretty irked. Not really dangerous enough to worry the Batman in his mind.

"She reminds me of Jason and Helena."

Dick whistled. "Sounds like hell in a hand basket then."

Both men winced, as Santana's date appeared to say something stupid again and was once again viciously assaulted with words. "You're telling me. I don't know what's more dangerous: the cutting insults or the razorblades hidden in her hair. Either way I'm keeping an eye on her."

Bruce left his former sidekick to fetch Alfred. Dick continued to watch Santana in fascination.

'Razorblades?'

**Up Next:**

**Supergirl's Super Start in Gotham**

* * *

***edited 09/27/12 - changed name of Santana's mom to what it is in the show, added some more touching memories she had.**


	3. Kara-Quinn Comes to Gotham

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara Zor-El wishes she didn't have to live under her cousin's crushing shadow. Will a move to the darkest city in America make the Red and blue pressure lighten? Only time will tell. Until then... Quinn Fabray has to establish a life as an ordinary college student. Shouldn't be as bad as the week she tried high school, right?

Issue #0 - Part 3

Streaky, I Don't Think We're In Metropolis Anymore

Gotham University was bustling with a swarm of students, a typical sight for the start of a new school year. Freshmen wandered the campus looking frighteningly lost trying to find their classes. Varsity teams were outside training, taking advantage of the beautiful day by running laps around the picturesque college grounds. Clubs had their booths set up outside trying to attract new members.

The girl, now known as Quinn Fabray, tried taking it all in as she weaved gracefully passed the other students, mesmerized by the startling new environment. For the first time in what seemed like ages, the girl felt weightless in the air without actually flying.

This was it. This wasn't the Fortress of Solitude, her first prison after she crash-landed on Earth. It wasn't Themyscira, the Amazonian island full of independent and strong women but just as isolated from humanity as the Fortress. The island also brought back bittersweet memories of Lyla, her first friend who had sacrificed her life for the Kryptonian teen.

Quinn looked around the campus and breathed in, sighing at the unique scents that the new city brought.

Most importantly, she thought, this wasn't Metropolis. Kal wasn't going to be there to watch her. The shadow of the Superman didn't loom on her as she took her steps on campus. She could forge her own path. Wherever it would lead her, at least it was her own and not Ka-Clark's, or Powergirl's, or her father's.

 _This_  was Gotham City, often considered the dark counterpart to the City of Tomorrow. The city of countless psychopaths and super-criminals, dark and dangerous; anybody would be insane to  _want_  to live in Gotham. But Quinn Fabray wasn't just anybody. Strangely it was a place she had always felt connected to. This was where her ship landed; it's where she began her new life living as an earthling. It's where she would begin again.

"Enjoying Gotham so far, Kara?" The soft voice behind the blonde girl startled her and she turned around to find a familiar face. An unwelcome one at that, but Quinn figured it was only a matter of time. She was, after all, a Super in a Bat City. A regular alien fish out of water flapping for life on the dark shores that belonged to the one and only Batman.

"It's Quinn now, Barbara. Quinn Fabray." The super-powered teen looked around as if she were expecting an attack before she narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "Bruce sent you, didn't he?"

Barbara Gordon, the wheel-chaired bound hero known as Oracle, had the decency to look a little embarrassed. "He figured a more gentle welcome would be better for you than his umm… rather dark presence."

Quinn sighed. "Well, as long as he didn't send in Clark…" She managed to escape Metropolis without too much of a lecture from her cousin but she expected that she would get a visit soon.

"Bruce just wanted to make sure you were settled in alright."

The Kryptonian teen crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow in the process. If possible her hazel eyes narrowed even further, making Barbara shift uncomfortably. It was apparent Quinn had learned a lot from the Big Three since arriving on Earth. In her time training with them, she somehow managed to combine Superman's otherworldly alien presence with Wonder Woman's air of regal authority and Batman's infamous, intimidating glare. Oracle always knew that Supergirl was a force to be reckoned with but she had always thought it was always because of the girl's Kryptonian gifts. Being caught under the intensity of the newly-named Quinn Fabray's angry glare, Barbara realized it was so much more than that.

 _Quinn_  was so much more. It was as if the teenager could set her on fire without even using her heat vision. If that actually happened, Barbara wouldn't have been the least bit surprised.

" _Bruce_  just wanted to make sure I didn't blow up my first day. He's just  _waiting_  for me to slip up isn't he?"

Oracle laughed, relaxing at the younger girl's petulance. Quinn's words seemed to echo several times in Barbara's memories; variations of the same complaint muttered by several different people (including herself) over the years and the familiarity comforted her. "Oh Ka- Quinn… you just said the exact same words that have been spoken by every single person who's ever worked with Bruce since he started." The younger girl's glare disappeared being startled by Barbara's amusement, "You are definitely going to fit in here."

Quinn couldn't help the bright smile that crept on her face. After going through so much crap when she first arrived and when Quinn had first donned the S shield, acceptance was always a welcome feeling. The hazel-eyed Kryptonian felt bad for her bitchy greeting, Barbara wasn't Ka-Clark or Bruce.

"I'm sorry Barbara, it's just-"

The bespectacled red head put her hand up to shush the other girl. "Don't worry about it Quinn. I get it. Believe me, I get it," Barbara shrugged her shoulders and rested a hand on the other girl's arm, reassuring Quinn that she understood her motives, "A girl just needs her independence."

The super-powered teen sighed. For Quinn, part of all this was about independence but it there were other factors too. Since Superboy's death and the multi-worldwide Crisis, things have been hectic. Everybody so dead set on replacing the Big Three in their absence. Teams were broken and the major cities needed their heroes. Quinn couldn't help but feel displaced without her two cousins and she didn't like it. And with Wonder Woman going AWOL, Supergirl had never felt so alone. Being Kara Zor-El, the second Kara Zor-El was hard for the teen and fitting in was difficult wherever she went. Quite frankly, the Kryptonian might was just tired of meeting superheroes that had nothing else to say to her but "You have a darkness in you, you should fix it." If she had a nickel for every time she heard that line…

She just didn't feel like being Kara the last daughter of Krypton anymore, thanks in part to the fact that she wasn't the only Kara in this universe. Of course Quinn didn't blame Powergirl (Karen Starr) at all, what else could her big-busted Earth-2 counterpart do? After all, she had arrived on this Earth long before Quinn had, and seemed much more successful in her efforts to adapt. So the younger and smaller-breasted Kara Zor-El chose a different alias, abandoning her Kryptonian name with the hope that a human identity and a university experience would help her find herself. That was what college was all about wasn't it?

Barbara started talking again in a more serious tone, breaking Quinn out of her reverie. "Bruce also sent over some new documents for you as well as a couple of other things." She paused to hand a brown box to her super-powered friend. "I guess he just wants to ensure your identity remains incognito."

"He's second-guessing my secret identity?" Quinn erupted quietly, she was still well aware of the fact that they were in public. Unfortunately that didn't do anything to quell her ire and she began shaking her head furiously. "No, no, no, no, NO! I  _like_  being Quinn Fabray; this is  _me_  now… this is who I am and who I chose to be. No one, especially not Bruce, is going to tell me otherwise."

Scary Quinn was coming out again and Barbara was sure that if she were able to, she would have taken a step back from the angry teen. She hoped that the slight changes that Bruce made Barbara do for Kara's alter ego wouldn't piss her off anymore than she already was. "It's not a big change…"

Quinn looked at her new personal documents incredulously, " _Lucy_ Quinn Fabray? He wants me to be called  _Lucy_?" The shock softened some of Quinn's anger. Did she even look like a Lucy?

"It's more for formality. Bruce thought Quinn would be too conspicuous. Lucy's a more common name and more likely to be brushed over. Of course, you could still go by Quinn but more as an informal nickname."

Quinn chose to let this one go, more out of exhaustion than anything, but she quietly determined to  _never_ go by Lucy Fabray, ever. However, there were still other items in the box. Lifting up a pair of scissors and a blonde wig, Quinn looked at the older woman, expecting a good explanation.

Barbara exhaled, planning to ease the younger girl into the next idea. "Those scissors are lined with a little bit of Kryptonite." Quinn hissed but before she could throw them into the atmosphere the other woman continued. " _But_  not enough to really hurt you. Bruce wants you to cut your hair with them and wear this wig when you're, uh, in uniform."

The Kryptonian teen held the blade of the scissors to a single strand of hair and was shocked when it did in fact cut through. She could finally get a haircut! Quinn grudgingly admitted that it was a good idea. The blonde found a small box near the bottom of the package. "What the hell is this?"

"Coloured contacts. We heard you tried the glasses gimmick and it didn't really work out. So here's our solution, they don't have a prescription on them but they do change your eyes from the 'stormy and otherworldly green orbs' to a more humanizing hazel. Those were Bart's words not mine by the way."

Quinn rolled her eyes both at the color contacts and at Bart's (aka Kid Flash) teen hormone filled description but conceded to Barbara's point. She  _did_ hate wearing those stupid glasses. Feeling that the only object left was made of material Quinn groaned assuming the worst. Did Bruce want to dress her up too?

"What the hell is in here that could help me hide my secret identity? A fat suit? Oh my God Bruce wants me to wear a fat suit and be Lucy Fabray. They'll call me mean names and I'll be 'Lucy Caboos-"

Barbara started giggling, Quinn's conclusions were hilariously dramatic and it reminded her that as scary and powerful as she was, the Kryptonian superhero was still a teenager. "Lucy Caboosey? Creative but this isn't middle school and  _that,"_ She pointed to the box, "Isn't a fat suit, it's another uniform. One that goes more with Gotham's color scheme."

Quinn didn't pull out the new costume but saw the deep blue and dark red colors. "Fashion not exactly the same in Gotham?"

"Well we can't all be a bright red and blue blur to save the day. In Gotham, it's more about subtlety and stealth. Bruce might not have said it but he does want you to feel welcome here. This is just his version of the welcome wagon."

She would never admit it out loud, but Quinn was truly touched by everything that Bruce did for her. Nobody but Clark and Diana had taken such lengths to make her feel part of something and it meant so much more to Quinn that  _Bruce_ out of all people was the one who did it. They sure have come a long way from their first meeting in Gotham.

Of course, now Quinn wasn't completely naked running around Gotham, could speak Earth languages and didn't destroy a quarter of the city upon her arrival; that might have had something to do with that.

* * *

Barbara left Quinn alone after helping to cut her hair. The new look was amazing but Quinn was just happy to have the means to get a new hairstyle when she wanted without resorting to using magic, sharp space rocks or really itchy wigs. The large lecture hall started to pile up and the large quantities of people shoving their way for seats snapped Quinn from her thoughts.

The blonde haired superhero in disguise settled in to her seat excited for what the class would bring. Quinn's excitement died once the short professor opened his mouth for thirty minutes talking non-stop about what he expected from the course, making the class sound more like hell than a new beginning.

"What a fucking ass-hat." Quinn looked to her left to see who vulgarly voiced the exact same thing she was thinking. A dark-haired and tanned beauty sat beside her looking just as bored as Quinn felt. The girl flicked her gaze over to the shorthaired blonde and smirked.

"Hey."

Quinn looked around to see if the girl was talking to anyone else. Seeing that everyone around them was either asleep or getting there, Quinn returned the greeting. "Hey."

"Name's Santana. You?" The girl pointed a finger at Quinn and there was something about the strange girl that was intriguing to her.

"Uh I'm Qui- Lucy… Lucy Quinn Fabray," Quinn mentally berated herself, why in the world was she stuttering? "But I prefer to be called Quinn, none of my friends call me Lucy."

Santana gave the blonde a brief onceover before shrugging in agreement. "Yeah you don't look like a Lucy. So Q, how would you like to get the whole college experience?"

The smirk at the end of her question made Quinn gulp. Why did she get the feeling like this girl was trouble with a capital T?

As Santana dragged Quinn out of the lecture hall to skip the rest of the class, the Kryptonian college student felt that her unspoken question had just been answered.

So in the midst of Quinn's first official class at Gotham U, she also got her first true college experience of officially ditching said class (the first of many if Santana would have anything to do with it), thus beginning one of the most turbulent, argumentative and unforgettable friendships that Quinn would ever have.

**Next up: Rachel Berry's start to magickal stardom in Gotham**

**Stay tuned and as always please R/R!**

* * *

**edited - 10/10/12**


	4. Gotham City Is A New York in the Making - Rachel Hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is stronger than a calling for Broadway? Rachel didn't think there was any such thing until she found a trace of her mother in Gotham City. Be careful Rachel Berry. Fairy tale reunions may be a bit more dangerous than you think.

Issue #0 - Part 4 (Final Part)

Be Careful What You Wish For, Magick Can Be a Bitch

Since birth, Rachel Berry was always destined for greatness. The bright starlet grew up knowing this with her proud fathers who loved her enough to help her prepare for that bright future. Hiram always told her exaggerated fairy tale stories of great stars and the magic they brought to the adoring people around them. Rachel loved those stories and her Dad assured her that she would be just as magical. Leroy would read her the biographies of Streisand, Minnelli and LuPone but never failed to remind the girl that Rachel would surpass all of them.

Both doting dads had encouraged her love of stage and cultivated Rachel's apparent gift. From birth, Rachel always felt a spark of magic flow through her veins whenever she sang. She always knew exactly who she was and who she was going to be. She had no problem with that knowledge and neither did her fathers but the small town of Lima, Ohio was not quite ready for the girl with big dreams, huge talent and enough drive to actually make it out of there.

Lima wasn't the easiest place to grow up in. For Rachel, it was definitely the loneliest place. The other kids stayed far away from the oddly dressed loud girl with two gay fathers and dreams of stardom.

But it wasn't just the lack of friends that affected her loneliness.

Rachel would often see that nearly every girl around her had a mother to go to about her problems. Growing older, she found that a part of her missed the absent maternal presence and soon the void turned into curiosity, which then transformed into an obsession. Who was the woman who gave birth to her? Why did she agree to have a daughter just to give her away? Did this faceless woman ever love the baby she gave birth to? Did she love the world of the theatre as much as Rachel did? Did she sing? Did she feel the magic that Rachel did each time she performed?

She wouldn't trade her fathers for the world but she just couldn't stop the questions that flooded her mind.

And these unanswered questions were exactly why Rachel Berry was in Gotham City instead of New York after her high school graduation. Of course the girl had to give her confused fathers a convincing argument about the safety of living in Gotham as well as an in-depth presentation highlighting the advantages of attending the Gotham Academy for the Performing Arts. Rachel also had to remind her dear fathers that they already prepared her for her future in New York by putting her in some Capoeira classes and by giving her a rape whistle. She would make it to New York eventually, that was a guarantee… but for the moment the past was calling for resolution. The call being more of a spell that Rachel could not break for the life of her.

She looked down at the name and address scrawled the piece of paper that she held in her hand.

Shelby Corcoran

1373 Kane Ave.

Apartment number, 37

This was it. Her fathers had left her the previous day with tearful goodbyes and well wishes. She had opted out of living in residence, hoping to enjoy all that Gotham City had to offer and not just be restricted to the GAPA campus. Her new apartment was also very close to Gotham's theatre district and Rachel was excited at the opportunities that could be open for her by living nearby.

Now wasn't the time to worry about that though. For her to move on towards her future in the limelight, Rachel had to be secure with the past. As she stood outside the apartment, she tried to assure herself that whatever happened, the encounter would make an excellent addition to her future best-selling memoir.

Taking a deep breath, Rachel gave a trembling knock on the dirtied white door of Number 37 and waited.

Silence.

Rachel let out a tense breath while swaying on the balls of her feet. She looked around seeing if anybody was around before knocking once again, a little louder this time.

Nothing.

Frustrated and anxious to see whoever was on the other side of the door, Rachel found her patience was quickly thinning. A few erratic heartbeats later she broke and moved to put her hand on the door handle.

BANG!

Suddenly a rush of energy rushed from the door into Rachel. The force feeling more like volts of electricity flowing all over her body and was powerful enough to send her crashing into the wall behind her.

" _Magicks hath been released… The spell unbound… Descendant of Xanadu awaken… Accept thy gift and Embrace thy curse. Darkness and Light will fight… For you are the siphon and power. Vale Artemis."_

Rachel wanted to look for the source of the mystical voice but quickly found herself losing consciousness. The force of energy was still going through her but it seemed to be draining her of her own energy. She could just make out a rush of wind and the sound of clicking heels on the floor before fading into unconsciousness. A warm comforting mix of stormy green, red and blue filled her dreams but was suddenly blocked out by a bone-chilling darkness sending her into a nightmarish unconscious state.

* * *

Rachel felt heavy and exhausted but there was electricity in every nerve in her body that she couldn't get rid of. The paradoxical feelings were confusing and whatever energy flowed through her kept on building.

Groaning in pain she tried to get up but immediately felt nauseous and leaned back against… an unfamiliar coach? Where was she? What did she do yesterday? And why was it so difficult to open her eyes?

All these questions would usually have her in a state of panic at the frightening possibilities but seeing as she currently felt like she was really high and hung-over, Rachel just wanted the ability to sit up without the nausea and spinning.

"Is this real life?"

A light chuckle rang throughout the room. "First burst of magic is a doozy ain't it?"

Rachel blinked in confusion when she managed to get a good look at her surroundings. Whatever it was that Rachel was expecting, waking up in a stranger's house feeling like she was drugged by a large dose of Rohypnol while being electrocuted; a busty raven-haired woman in a fitted tuxedo jacket, top-hat and fishnet stockings with bad grammar was definitely not on that list.

The strange woman gave a warm smile and introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Zatanna Zatara, magician and part-time supernatural superhero at your service." The strange woman approached Rachel slowly; "I'm also part of a race called 'homo magi,' people who have the ability to manipulate energy and matter. More commonly known as magic. And somehow as of a couple of days ago, when you tried to open that door… you became a part of it too."

"Hmm uh wha? No homo? Magi?" Rachel scrunched her face in confusion, the awkward and informative introduction unable to breach the woozy haze of her mind. Still feeling the effects of the magic in her system, Rachel couldn't make sense of anything that Zatanna was saying, or anything that she herself was saying for that matter. Of course being blown into the wall by a magical, mystical force might have given her a concussion.

Zatanna laughed at Rachel's woozy response, "Looks like you're still on your magical high. Here I think this will clear your head up a little bit." The magician raised her hands and Rachel raised her hands dramatically, nearly falling off the bed. " _Ezah eht raelc!"_

A metaphorical damn broke and a million thoughts and fears rushed into Rachel's now-clear mind making the girl start to hyperventilate. "Ohmygod. What am I doing here? Where am I? Is this one of those perverted brothel places where they perform human trafficking? Oh God, I'm going to be a sex slave for the rest of my life aren't I? Forced to around wearing a ridiculous outfit that looks like it came from an adult store. Oh no, oh no. Oh no, ohnoohnoohno."

The ground started shaking in time with Rachel's fluctuating heartbeat. Everything was boiling up and the scared brunette felt agitated with the energy stuck inside her.

Zatanna rushed to calm her down but Rachel panicked and raised her hands to her face in defence. The petite hands began to glow white, and both girls' eyes widened at the display of magic. All of a sudden a rush of wind hurled the magician headfirst into the grandfather clock behind her.

Rachel stared at her hands in horror before she started cradling her head and rocking back and forth. "I-don't-want-this-I-don't-want-this-please-take-it-away-please-take-it-away-I-don't-want-this-oh-God-"

Objects all around the living room began to float in the air and started circulating to the beat of the brunette's mantra.

Zatanna felt the overwhelming rush of magic in the air and quickly got to her feet.

"Ugh, anybody get the name of the clock that hit m- OH FUCK!" She had opened her eyes just in time to duck and avoid the chair that was coming right at her. Seeing the chaos around her, she quickly shielded herself. " _EM TCETORP DLEIHS!_ "

A transparent bubble formed around the Mistress of Magic causing the flying objects to bounce off it harmlessly. Seeing that her shield spell worked, Zatanna moved to the eye of the storm in her living room.

Her eyes gazed sympathetically at the scared girl on the floor and she pulled her into a tight hug, hoping the contact would break the spell. Her living room decorations and furniture slowed their circular flight path once the hug was initiated. Sobs broke out from the petrified girl in Zatanna's arms so she began to rub her back.

"Shh, it's going to be okay. I know this is scary and confusing but I'm right here, okay? I'm right here and you're not alone." Zatanna glanced around the room and saw that the objects had dropped to the floor; Rachel's sobs were slowing too. "You're not alone.  _Seramthgin tuohtiw peels._ "

Rachel drifted off once again to the deep recesses of her mind, the scary blackness that threatened her last time were now chased off in favour of the comforting colours from before. Flashes of green, red, blue, and gold drew her in but Rachel couldn't decipher the meaning and wouldn't recall the dream visions when she woke.

Zatanna put the sleeping brunette on the couch once again then set out to survey the damage. Shaking her head, she asked herself, "Why does this happen every time I bring someone back to Shadowcrest?" She knew no one would answer but still made a show of sighing before raising her hands. _"Moor eht ni gnihtyreve xif."_

As Zatanna's spell worked it's magic in the room, she stepped out hoping to get some rest as well, somehow the whole experienced drained her of more energy than normal. As the objects in room floated back to their places, Zatanna never noticed one particular dark magic detector going haywire just past the entrance to the living room.

* * *

"… So you're saying that I just suddenly became a witch when I touched that door knob?"

Rachel was trying to keep calm as she and Zatanna tried to work out what happened, she really was. But just last week she was preparing for her new life in Gotham and was looking forward to meeting her mother. Now she was in a strange house, with a strange woman and was apparently now a magical homo or something. She was well aware of how dramatic she was being but if there ever was a situation that called for hysterical dramatics it was this one.

Zatanna winced at the petite brunette's slightly hysterical tone. Anything could set off her magicks again and she really didn't feel like being thrown into anymore valuable pieces of furniture. Once Rachel had woken up, the magician had performed some Valium-like spells before attempting to explain the situation. That was a difficult task considering Zatanna was still trying to figure that out, not to mention that the spells on Rachel kept wearing off quicker than usual.

"Okay first off, 'witch' kind of has a negative connotation and I prefer to be called a magician, or the scientific term 'homo magi.' If you're feeling really flattering you can call me the 'Mistress of Magic.' Secondly we still don't know what happened to set off that magic reaction of yours," Rachel tensed but Zatanna placed a hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes, "but we're going to figure it out, I promise."

Rachel managed to calm down once more, this time without the aid of magic. "Okay, I believe you. And I'm sorry for the 'witch' comment; it wasn't my intent to offend you. It's just that this whole experience has been overwhelming, I mean I just wanted to meet my biological mother."

"I know it must be har-" Zatanna paused once she realized what Rachel had just said. "Shelby Corcoran is your  _mom_?"

Rachel nodded. "Well yes, my biological mother. I came to Gotham to find her."

"I didn't know she had mo-" the stunned magician stopped her line of thought and amended it, "I didn't know she had a daughter."

"You knew her?" Rachel looked at the other woman in confusion.

Zatanna got up from the couch and paced the room. "Yeah, the magical community is pretty close here in Gotham, well at least the ones that don't practice the really black magicks. Anyways, Shelby was my go-to psychic and magical items supplier. We weren't really close but a couple of months ago she disappeared without a trace. When I went to her apartment to investigate, there was a complex spell on the door and I couldn't break it. The spell was a key-lock one. It would only break once the right key appeared. I put a detection spell over the door to let me know when it was undone." She turned to Rachel, " Looks like you're the key."

"But the key to what?" The question was left unanswered, as both women had no idea why Shelby Corcoron disappeared or why Rachel was the one to open the door. Rachel anxiously broke the silence with a slightly simpler question that Zatanna may actually have the answer to. "What do we do now?"

The magician took off her top hat and ran her fingers through her hair before replying. "Well, now that you have this gift, you have to learn how to use it. I can teach you how t-"

An unsettling mixture of anger and fright took hold of Rachel as she stood up abruptly, "NO! I don't want to be a part of this, this, magical cult of yours or whatever this is. It's too much for me to handle and I just want to go back to GAPA and continue on my journey to becoming a Broadway star, winning my first Tony for playing Fanny Brice in the revival of Funny Girl and being happily married in New York by the time I'm twenty-seven. I simply wish to forget that I ever had to go through this nightmarish experience."

Zatanna hated being the bearer of bad news but the amount of power that Rachel displayed after only being active for such a short time was worrisome. Left unchecked, the brunette could attract some dark forces or injure a lot of innocent people."Look, the magic inside you isn't just going to go away just because you want it to. It responds to your strongest feelings right now," Rachel looked defeated but the magician showed no signs of stopping. "What do you think will happen when you feel scared or overwhelmed at school? The slightest bit of anger you would feel for someone in class or the even the tiniest amount of stress during midterms could be disastrous without training first.. You just have to learn to control your emotions better."

The tiny brunette protested, "And how am I supposed to do that? Telling me to contain my emotions is like trying to stop the rain from falling or the sun from rising. I keep a chair, a tissue box and a sweater with me whenever I perform a solo because every time I sing, I'm left weak in the knees, bawling with the shivers. You can't just tell me to stop feeling those things." Rachel was shaking by the time she was done her ranting.

"Alright just relax, there's only so many times I can fix this place with magic so I'd like to keep the damage to a minimum." Rachel winced at the memory of her destructive panic attack. "Also, Rachel I'm not saying you won't be able to fulfill those wonderful dreams of yours. And I'm not telling you to keep your emotions contained. I just need to train you on how to take control of your emotions so they won't take over you or your magic."

Rachel looked up at the older woman with a look of utter amazement. " _You're_ going to train me?"

The Mistress of Magic stared at the girl, puzzled at the tone in her voice. "Uh yeah. Who else?"

"O-oh well, I thought this would be like Harry Potter and that you would just send me on my way to be shipped off to Hogwarts for the next seven years, undergoing life-threatening trials every five minutes." Rachel blushed, now realising how ridiculous it sounded out loud.

Zatanna gave out a choked laugh, "And that would make me what? Hagrid?"

Both ladies forgot themselves and the situation they were in and just giggled. They giggled and gasped for air until it hurt. The tension in the air lifted for a moment and Rachel quickly warmed up to her newly designated teacher. She still didn't trust the magic flowing in her body but she felt like she could trust Zatanna and for now, it would have to be enough.

* * *

Time flew by in Zatanna's family manor. Once it was explained to Rachel that Shadowcrest resided in a different dimension and abided to a different set of temporal rules, she agreed to undergo basic magical training before returning to Gotham with plenty of time before the start of the new semester at GAPA.

What surprised Rachel the most during her training with Zatanna, was that in the 'weeks' they had been training, she had yet to be shown how to perform any feats of magic. A part of Rachel was relieved; no magic meant that she didn't have the chance to lose control like she did before. Another part of her was getting anxious, the energy inside her growing at a less intense rate, but growing nonetheless.

Instead of magical lessons though, Zatanna put the girl through a series of different kinds of meditation techniques everyday. Rachel found that now she was better at controlling the emotions, gaining the ability to rein them in and expel them at will in less explosive ways. She marvelled at the advantages that would have on her acting abilities, having been often told in the past that her intensity would drive off some directors.

Zatanna also forced Rachel into conversations that lasted for hours. The teacher and pupil spent many days learning about each other, building up a trust that would help them once they did start the practical magic training. The Mistress of Magic could still sense some distress in her new student towards the magicks that were contained within her and she wanted to build a foundation of trust between them before she would attempt to convince her otherwise.

"Why is it that you prefer to be called a magician?" Rachel asked during one of their sessions. They were seated in the middle of the Shadowcrest greenhouse surrounded by exotic plants and flowers, both women found the place to be calming and so they would often hold their daily conversations there.

At Zatanna's questioning glance, Rachel elaborated her own inquiry, "I mean compared to other magic titles, magician sounds juvenile and kind of weak. You're a superhero too are you not? Shouldn't you embrace one of the more powerful sounding titles?"

Zatanna smiled a little and raised her hand in front of her chest. " _Dnah ym no raeppa rewolf."_

The smaller brunette watched in wonder as a beautiful lily began to sprout and blossom on Zatanna's hand. The other woman observed Rachel's face and nodded inwardly; perhaps it was truly time to begin. "Rachel, magic isn't always about the scary and the unknown. Like many other aspects to the world, magic is can be used for good and for bad. And like you, a lot of people only get to see the bad."

The magician closed her hand into a fist, crushing the flower. She then whispered a spell and threw the flower into the air, transforming the bits into harmless displays of fireworks. Rachel spun around, childlike in her amusement at the beautiful displays of magic that Zatanna performed.

"When I do a magic show, I help people escape to another world; one where illusion and reality meld and where possibilities are endless. A magician takes people back to a time of youth where they can believe in the unbelievable again. With each magic 'trick' I perform, I show those people that they don't have to give that up in adulthood." The fireworks began to slow their display until the sparks were suspended in midair, resembling frozen fireflies in their beauty. "By calling myself a magician I want people to see the fun and good in magic that I believe exists within all beings."

Rachel sat quietly across from her teacher, processing her speech with a new perspective. It was so similar to what she had wanted to do as a Broadway star. Help people escape and believe again. Maybe magic wasn't so scary. Or maybe Rachel didn't let the fear overcome her any longer.

Either way, Rachel steeled herself and looked into Zatanna's anxious eyes. "Miss. Zatara, if it's okay with you, I think- no I know I'm ready to learn. Please teach me."

The older woman brightened and cracked a smile, "Well, I guess I could teach you a thing or two Apprentice, as long you don't flood my house or spell any broomsticks to clean your messes."

Both women laughed at the joke and made their way back to the main house. They walked in comfortable silence until a thought hit Rachel, making her look at herself subconsciously and frown.

"Wait, does this mean I have to wear the tuxedo, fishnet stockings and top hat too?"

The only answer she received was a mischievous wink before Zatanna disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving only the echoes of her laughter behind. Rachel gasped in shock before chasing after the magician.

Visiting her mother didn't provide any answers, just gave her a lot more complex questions but as Rachel played a game of 'Catch the Tricky Magician,' she realized that while she might not have gotten any answers, she had gained a great friend and mentor in the process. She would find the answers eventually, but Rachel couldn't shake the feeling that something great was going to happen because of magic, and that gave her hope.

_To be continued in Issue #1_

_"Quinn of the Urban Jungle, WATCH OUT FOR THAT-"_

* * *

**Here are the spells Zatanna used in the chapter.**

" _Ezah eht raelc!" - clear the hazE_

_EM TCETORP DLEIHS! - SHIELD PROTECT ME!_

_"Seramthgin tuohtiw peels" - sleep without nightmareS_

_"Moor eht ni gnihtyreve xif." - fix everything in the rooM_

_"Dnah ym no raeppa rewolf." - flower appear on my hanD_

* * *

_**edited 10/10/12**   
_

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends the origin stories and Issue #0.
> 
> Up next: Quinn tries to get the guts to talk to Rachel, Santana gets a new but slightly dangerous hobby and look out for a former dynamic duo that will keep a close eye on her.


	5. Quinn of The Urban Jungle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been just over a year since the events of the origin chapters. Now we return to just after 'Supergirl's Night Off.'  
> Santana tries to convince her best friend to make a move on the Magickal Rachel Berry. She also seems to have issues with a Vigilante code name.
> 
> Special Guest Stars: Batman, Nightwing and Zatanna

Issue #1

Quinn of the Urban Jungle – WATCH OUT FOR THAT-

* * *

" _Okay Q you've been to every one of Zatanna's shows for the last two weeks… when are you going to grow the balls to actually talk to Miss. short, hot and sexy?"_

There were times when Quinn questioned her decision to come to Gotham. As she glided through the city skyline admiring the view, she couldn't imagine being anywhere else. Talking to Santana, however, made her wish she took Brainy and the Legion of Superheroes' offer to be a member of their teen superhero group in the 31st century.

Talking with her best friend on the phone was usually something she did at home but occasionally Quinn would get claustrophobic in the closet-like dump she lived in. You try spending over twenty-five years stuck in suspended animation inside a tiny spaceship and let's see how you feel about small, dark, barely habitable places.

"San would you stop bugging me about this? I told you I'm not going to talk to her, she'll probably think I'm a crazy fan stalker or something."

" _Yes because being at each of her shows and devouring her with your eyes so much that she fucking trips on stage is totally_ not  _stalkerish behaviour at all._ She could practically feel Santana's eyes roll through the phone line,  _"But hey what do I know? You're the Psychology major who aces the class even though you missed like half the course. What the hell-"_

Quinn drowned out her friend's voice. Santana was  _never_ going to let that go.

So Quinn missed a lot of her classes, saving the world seemed to be much higher on the priority list. But to miss more classes than even Santana and to still be able to ace the course? Clark and Bruce would probably kill her if they knew. Or not, the Justice League back-up calls to Supergirl did lighten up considerably once the school year started again. Quinn frowned at the thought and was already planning to visit the Oracle for some answers.

" _-I mean how the fuck is anybody supposed to understand Professor Stutters McGee if he's f-f-fr-fr-FRICKING STUTTERING EVERY OTHER DAMN WORD!"_

The Kryptonian powerhouse performed an elegant barrel roll to avoid a flock of birds coming her way, before returning to wading in midair on her back. "Come on Santana, I know he was bad but you know Gotham U's Psychology department hasn't been the same since Scarecrow."

Santana huffed.  _"Ugh seriously? Dr. Crane going batshit crazy on the old fogies didn't kill them right?"_  Quinn was going to reply but the other girl continued her ranting,  _"_ _ **SO**_ _them getting attacked by one of Gotham's supervillains should have made them stronger, not turn them into fucking pussies who piss themselves every time the door closes too loudly."_

"Not everybody can be from Gotham Heights Adjacent like you Santana." Quinn joked.

" _You gotz that right Q. You know I should teaching a class on something like that… The school would have to pay me big time 'cause I's be learning them_ _ **so good**_ _on how to be badass with a capital G-H-A."_

It was Quinn's turn to roll her eyes. "Well as long as you're not teaching English. How did you get into college again?"

" _Fuck you Miss. Oh-I'm-a-fucking-know-it-all-so-I'll-just-double-major-in-English-too."_

"You know this is the second time you've tried to insult me with my own genius and all I'm hearing is 'Oh I'm so jealous because Quinn is sooo much smarter than I am.'" Quinn smirked in victory; it wasn't often that she could burn Santana this much in one conversation so she savoured it.

" _Whatever, at least I gotz me enough game to ask the girl I like if she wanted to go out with me. Or fuck me."_ The comment quickly shut the superhero up and she could sense Santana's annoying smirk on the line.  _"You know if you don't want work your lame-ass brainy magic on the Hobbit than maybe I'll try taking her down to the Shire if you know what I mean."_

Quinn's normally swirling green and hazel eyes hardened before turning into a furiously bright red. "STAY AWAY FROM HER!"

Evil laughter rang in Quinn's ears,  _"I don't know if I can do that Q-ball. I mean if you don't make a move it would be such a waste. You know maybe tomorrow night I'll ask her out. Maybe we can eat_ _ **out**_ _. Mmm and maybe I'll find out how long her legs really are. Won't that be_ _ **magical?**_ _"_

Great now Quinn was pissed off  _and_ horny. Even though she was incredibly furious with her bitchy best friend, she was right. Imagining Rachel Berry's legs was a magical experience but the real thing? That would be more magical than the shit straight out of Hogwarts, Narnia and fucking Neverland (curse Santana for making her watch all those movies). So lost in her perverted thoughts, Quinn didn't see what was coming until it was too late.

There was a loud metallic clanging followed by a not so graceful "WHAT TH- OH SHIT!"

Supergirl's state of passionate fury was suddenly interrupted as the high-flying superhero collided with a lighting rod on top of one of Gotham's many skyscrapers. Although the impact didn't hurt her, Quinn's noggin of steel managed to leave a large dent in the metal. Thankfully nothing else was damaged besides Quinn's pride.

Santana could hear the loud metal crash and stopped baiting the blonde heroine.  _"Woah everything okay on your end Q? It sounds like a car crash over there. "_

The super-powered teen was struggling to fix her mess but adjusted her Bluetooth headset to reply. "Uhh yeah I just… walked into a pole."

Her spunky best friend snorted in response.  _"Seriously? Wow Q, you've really got it bad if just thinking dirty thoughts about Berry make you blind enough to not see a fricking metal pole in front of you."_

Quinn was used to being awkward in her human identity from her first tries at adapting to Earth culture and custom. Supergirl, on the other hand, was supposed to be the Girl of Steel, cousin of Superman. Invincible and unflappable. Flying into a pole was not something that a superhero would do.

With her ego bruised more than once, Quinn decided to cut her losses. Maybe it was time to grow some balls "Hey San? You think you could come with me to Zatanna and Rachel's show tonight?"

" _Well look at you… one blow to that head of steel and you're ready to get your mack on! I'm so proud,"_ Quinn could hear Santana fake a sniffle,  _"Sucks for you though, I can't play your wingman tonight... I have a thing to do, but you go get your girl."_

Quinn didn't ask her friend to elaborate. After all how many poor excuses did she give to Santana when she had to go save someone? She was surprised the short-tempered brunette didn't try to kick her sorry ass by now. Before she could reply though, her super-hearing started to pick up on a distant security alarm ringing.

"It's okay San, actually something just came up so I won't be able to go after all."

" _Ay Dios Mio! Are you kidding me? You fucking baby! I'm serious now, if you don't talk to Legs by tomorrow, I'mma getz my game on with her,"_ threatened Santana and even though Quinn knew it was an empty threat, she couldn't help the jealousy that consumed her.

"Fine SANTANA! I'll go tomorrow night I SWEAR. I'm warning you now though: you better stay away from her,  _or else_."

Angry, she hung up on her best friend and rushed to the crime. Finding a group of guys breaking into what looked like a local family business Quinn smiled ferociously, giving off a frightening impression of a fierce lioness about to pounce on her prey.

"You guys picked the right night to pull this crap. I'm in the mood for busting some balls."

The men gulped in sync and a few started to run. Supergirl's laughter filled the air; they never even had a chance.

* * *

On the other side of town, Santana looked at her phone with a mix of surprise and amusement. Jeez, Quinn could be so easy to manipulate sometimes. Feeling good from her mental victory over the blonde, she got up to get ready for the night. Tonight was the night after all.

It had taken some time to acquire what she needed, but Santana was nothing if not resourceful… and as manipulative as Satan himself. It only took a little girl-on-girl snookie snookie in front of Puck and her cousin's Police ID but she got the goods. Laying out the equipment on her bed, she double-checked everything. Police scanner? Check. Newly sharpened razorblades? Check. Grade A bulletproof vest? Expensive as fuck but check. Hotter than hell itself faux leather cat suit? Hell yeah. It covered her entire body and could be zipped up to her neck but Santana let the opening show quite a bit of cleavage instead. She had paid a fine dollar for those nannas of hers, shame to cover them up now. And finally the most important thing on her list for the night: six-pack of Red-Bull. Chilled in the fridge, check.

It was time and when Santana finished suiting up, she took the rest of the stuff out to the car. She started the car and turned on the police scanner, waiting her chance.

Ever since that night she was attacked, Santana found what she was supposed to do. If that psychopath impersonating a bat can be the most feared vigilante and Gotham, Santana could easily do the same, if not better. She was Santana Fucking Lopez. She lived through the worst that life could throw her and she came out stronger. She  _had_ to be stronger. This was more than being a hero. This was more than revenge. This was her calling and she was ready to answer it.

* * *

A dark figure perched up on a rooftop watched the new vigilante from a distance. He had kept Santana's car in his line of sight for a few hours now. Although he detected it, he barely acknowledged the arrival of his former sidekick.

"You know this is borderline stalking Bruce." Dick was only half joking this time.

"It's a stakeout Nightwing, and how many times do I have to tell you-"

"Once the cowl is donned, the civilian identity is gone. Alter-ego names  _only_. Rule number four," mocked Nightwing, having heard the same lectures many times over, he could repeat the whole 'rule book' word verbatim, growl and everything.

Batman snarled. "What are you doing here?"

"Oracle's been worried about your little obsession with the Lopez girl. Now that I'm seeing it for myself, I'm worried too. What's got you so freaked?"

"Intuition," growled Batman before adding, "and understanding."

Nightwing joined the watch trying and failing to see what was so special about this girl. Plenty of people in Gotham have lost loved ones; brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, children, it was just a sad fact in the dark city. Since the Batman came on the scene, a lot more people thought they could take the law into their own hands, but Bruce did what it took to put a stop to that. If it took a broken finger or leg, then so be it.

Bruce always believed it took a certain person to become one of them, to take on the burden of the cowl or mask. It seemed easier for the super-powered heroes; they didn't have to train their bodies into the ground for this. They didn't always see the mortality in their line of business, but every broken bone, every bullet wound… every death in the family, reminded the super-powerless vigilantes of that weakness.

Nightwing could tell that something was different Lopez if only from Bruce's reaction to her. "What's so special about Santana Lopez?"

"She's angry, she's reckless and she's determined. Since she received her inheritance, she now has the resources. I told you months ago that she reminded me of Jason and Helena. She still does. But most of all, she reminds me of myself."

The admission, so freely given by the most guarded man that Dick had ever known, shocked him to the core.

"Another you? Topped with a dash of Jason and Huntress? Wow that is a scary thought." Dick shivered at the thought and saw Bruce nodding gravely in agreement. Red Hood, Huntress and Batman rolled into one; he finally understood Bruce's caution.

Their suits' built-in police scanners began to light up, informing them that a crime was being committed only a few blocks ahead. The former Dynamic Duo began their hot pursuit of the car that headed into the direction that the police scanners were indicating.

* * *

'Okay so maybe this whole vigilante business wasn't as cracked up to be,' thought Santana as she looked at her phone for the time. Sitting in a car for hours waiting for some douchebag to do something criminally stupid wasn't exactly what Santana signed up for.

" _Bzz-t CODE TWO-FOUR-ZERO IN PROGRESS ON THE CORNER OF 12_ _TH_ _AND LAWSON."_

That was just a couple of blocks away, and according to the police cruiser response; they wouldn't get there in time. Santana smiled in anticipation as she kicked her car into full speed. 'Finally,' she thought with excitement, 'somebody's gonna getz their ass kicked!'

* * *

Jumping and swinging from rooftop to rooftop in time with Santana's car, Nightwing tapped his communicator on to reach Bruce, not wanting to yell and alert the residents in the various buildings they used as vehicles. "So Batman, what's our strategy? It sounds like an easy job, are we going to take it over and scare her into giving up?"

"We're going to see how she handles things."

"Are you serious?" Nightwing questioned incredulously.

Batman stopped and glanced at his former sidekick. "Are you really asking me that question?"

Dick shook his head, "Yeah, yeah. Alright you're the boss."

They settled onto a rooftop, just far enough that the criminals in the alley below did not see them or their ominous shadows. Batman and Nightwing didn't have to wait long though as Santana's black car sped down the narrow alley, barely missing the panicked thugs.

"Here it goes."

* * *

"Ya think you can call the cops on us and not expect a fucking beatdown? WHERE'S THE MONEY, LANSON?"

He was surrounded and the odds were stacked at five to one. Should he have considered himself lucky that none of them had guns or firearms? He looked around and noticed, to his chagrin that the biggest one of the lot had just picked up a rusty pipe. There was probably a reason why gambling was never his friend.

'Lanson' closed his eyes wincing at the pain he would be feeling. He thought for a brief moment that he was seeing the light. 'Oh is it over already?' That sure was quick he didn't even feel an-

"AHH WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING CRAZY BITCH!"

Wait that didn't sound like heaven… the man opened one eye to see what was going on and was shocked to find that his attackers were scattered and focused on a new arrival. If 'Lanson' were smart he would have taken the opportunity to run. Unfortunately, the foolish man found himself dazed by his saviour's rather tight… outfit. Yes her tight outfit. One that didn't leave much to the imagination. Who was this masked woman? And were could he get one of them?

Santana paid no heed to her douchebag in distress as she got out of her car; instead she focused on calculating the threat her opponents posed. These sorry excuses for hired henchmen were pathetic and should be relatively easy to dispose of. She could see from the look in their eyes that they already judged her to be weak.

"Relax guys, she ain't a Bat, we can take her."

Santana smirked and thought, 'Oh this is going to be fun.' Taking a breath, she saw the biggest guy step up, swinging a pipe at her. She counted in her head and then started to run at him. The manoeuvre confused the muscled thug and Santana worked his puzzlement to her advantage, using his bent knees as a launching point to flip over him in order to kick the unsuspecting guy behind him.

"What do you think so far Boss man?" asked Nightwing as they both watched Santana fight the group of low-grade gangsters. She was a natural; there was no doubt about it.

Batman grunted, "She's taking unneccesary risks and she's sloppy. She had a chance to take out the biggest threat and didn't take it."

"Hmm, you're being overly critical, which means you see something there."

Nightwing's only answer was another grunt and he knew he wasn't going to get anything else from his former mentor, so he turned his focus once again on Santana, who had just disposed of the last of the thugs.

* * *

Lanson watched in equal states of awe and arousal. The bombshell of a woman had just beat the crap out of four men and made one cry at the sight of her razorblades, all to protect  _him._ Perhaps he was lucky after all.

Still high off the life-threatening experience and drunk off his ass, Lanson foolishly decided to go up to his saviour, "Thanks fer the save Babe. Maybe I can help you? It looks like ya could have trouble taking that suit off, I'd be happy to volunteer my time."

Santana dusted herself off; the last lowlife was a tank. She saved him for last so that she could focus all her energy on the big guy and it worked. She looked at the fricking moron whose ass she just saved as he approached her. Although he wouldn't see it behind the mask, she had raised an unimpressed eyebrow at his attempts to pick her up. This guy was her first save? Almost as disappointing as some other firsts, but at least Puck was a pretty face with big guns and dished out marginally better lines.

"…So whatd'ya say Babe?" The fucking douche popped out the last syllable and was now leaning against the door of her car, effectively blocking her exit.

'Nuh Uh, No me gusta.'

A decidedly evil idea came into Santana's mind and she raised her hand to her chest seductively. The man in front of her gulped, turning his full attention to her cleavage and hoped to get a better look. In a flash Santana's hand pulled out a carefully concealed razorblade from between her breasts causing Lanson to gape in fear. She smirked at his reaction and raised her knee quickly, pulling out her other famous move: the nutcracker.

As the poor guy slid to the floor, Santana stepped over him. "I'mma learn you one thing Douchey Von Drunkass-Creeperton. NEVER touch Razorwing's car."

* * *

Nightwing winced at Santana's 'nutcracker' move. They had managed to drop a listening device before the fight finished and had heard every word exchanged. "So who are you going to get to train that firecracker? You've already got your hands full with Tim and Damien." Now that Nightwing thought about, Santana and Damien would probably kill each other at first glance. "Oracle would be great, but I take it that Lopez needs a trainer on the field to keep her from getting too out of control. Black Canary?"

Finally Batman looked away from Santana's location on the ground, "Maybe I'll get you to train her, she is going by 'Razor _wing_ ' isn't she? Sounds like you two would make a good team." Standing up, he pulled out the batclaw and aimed at a nearby rooftop.

The former sidekick's jaw dropped at the idea, "Are you serious? Wait Br-Batman! H-hey you can't joke around in the cowl!" Nightwing grumbled at the man's departure. "Being sarcastic in the batsuit should be against the rules, I can never tell if it's really a joke or not."

Seeing the beat-up, unconscious bloody messes on the ground below, Nightwing prayed to whatever higher power was up there that Bruce was kidding.

* * *

As Santana sped away, she looked in the mirror in disgust. 'Yeah that's a no to  _Razorwing_ , sounds fucking stupid.'

Back to the alter ego name drawing board, Santana winced in pain. Well after she iced her bruises. She groaned as she remembered she still had a stupid Psychology class the next day.

* * *

The Gotham City Lounge was definitely not the Upper Gotham Auditorium in terms of size but both magical mentor and pupil much preferred performing their magic in the smaller venue. People could have fun, eat and Zatanna and Rachel were able to interact better with their audience, often going to the bar after the show to chat with them. Line-ups to get in were crazy and tonight was no exception. Rachel sneaked a peak from behind the curtain and saw that it was indeed a full house but she saw no sign of the person she wanted to see most.

"Crazy stalker fan not here tonight?"

The taunting voice of her mentor and close friend startled Rachel out of her melancholia. She glared at Zatanna, who was still fixing her make-up in preparation for the show, "She's not crazy, nor is she a stalker," Rachel's eyes went starry-eyed and she sighed at the thought of her perfect stranger, "She's sweet and beautiful. An angel amongst the stars."

Zatanna laughed at her pupil's lovesick gaze. "When did you find that out? After she ogled your ass or before you tripped on stage staring at her chest? You should just ask her out already, all the sexual tension's cutting into my show."

Rachel huffed, stomping her boot to the ground in annoyance. "Why do you insist on being such a pest on this topic? I don't even know her name for God's sake. I can't just-just…"

"… Just ask for her name and if she wanted to go out for a cup of coffee?" finished Zatanna. She rolled her eyes at her assistant's reluctance. "Seriously Ray, it's not that difficult."

"Well it is, if said person was not currently in attendance for tonight's show," grumbled Rachel. A scary thought hit her, "Oh God, what if she never comes back?"

"I have a feeling she'll be back Rachel, then you won't have any excuses." Zatanna smiled, thinking about the Kryptonian in disguise. The look she was giving Rachel went way beyond a simple passing fancy.

Rachel gave her mentor a scrutinizing look and saw a familiar sparkle in her eyes. The sparkle that often told the apprentice to either run and hide, or sit back and enjoy the ride. Either way, whatever was going to happen was sure to be something big.

Giving up, she laughed and used her hip to bump Zatanna in jest, "Hey I thought I was the psychic one, Dumbledore?"

Zatanna conjured up a long beard making them both crack up until the stage manager gave them a five-minute warning. Putting on their top hats and dispelling the fake beard, Zatanna and Rachel went out to finish preparing for the show.

* * *

It was late the next morning when Quinn returned to her apartment. Since she had taken Santana's bait and decided to approach Rachel Berry after her next show, all the nerves she felt were overwhelming and she couldn't sit still.

After stopping the robbery in Gotham, she travelled the world. Brazil, Ghana, London, Japan; it didn't matter where you were in the world, there was always somebody in need of a hero and last night Quinn intended to save as many as she could.

She thought about all the lives she had saved when she listened in with her super-hearing. Was it in an effort to make up for whatever she missed when she living the civilian life? She would easily admit that a part of her always felt guilty for turning the 'super-hearing' down sometimes, after all, what was the point of having super-powers if she didn't use them to save people. It was easier before when she had trouble fitting into with the human world as well as with her fellow superheroes. Back then she had now qualms about saving the world on an hourly basis. it reminded her of something Kal-El had told her once.

" _I know it's hard Kara, trying to fit into a world where everything about you naturally stands out. With our powers, you start to wonder if it's even worth going back to a life where people just treat you like one of them, sometimes they treat you even worse; even though you know you're so much more. But it's the friends and family you have in_ _ **this**_ _life that help you go on as a hero. It would be a lonely life otherwise. So don't be afraid to let people in."_

When she had first heard Kal lecture her on secret identities and their importance to heroes, Quinn like any teenager refused to listen. Kal grew up on Earth, what did he know about what she was going through? Looking back now, she conceded that her cousin did give some good advice. Her first attempts at companionship with other heroes on Earth were disastrous and Quinn realized that since then she had unconsciously closed herself off to the possibilities. Her welcome in Gotham was different though and by getting to know Oracle and Tim along with befriending Santana and falling hard at first sight for Rachel Berry; it all helped her accept this part of her, the human part.

Themyscira was great for Quinn's training and the Fortress provided the bittersweet nostalgia of home, and while Gotham wasn't perfect, far from it actually, it was the first place she really felt at home on Earth, standing beside them instead of flying above of them.

The loud alarm ringing in Quinn's bedroom brought the exhausted hero out of her musings. Of course, along with the human life came human responsibilities, and right now Quinn's Psychology lecture was calling. The Kryptonian teen didn't let it get her down though; instead she kept Kal's words in her mind and renewed her resolve to talk to Rachel Berry that night. It was going to be difficult, but Quinn had the strongest feeling that Rachel could be one of those people that made saving the world worth it. Her star was so bright that  _her_ name should have been '-El.'

Laughing at her own mental joke made the other students around her look at Quinn weirdly but she didn't let that get her down. Tonight was going to be the beginning of something great, Quinn could feel it.

* * *

GCPD CRIME SCENE – KANE CORPORATION TECH BUILDING

"Woah, what the fuck happened here?"

The 'Commish" turned to look sharply at the speaker, "Watch the language Puckerman. Actually why don't you get back up to crowd control."

Cadet Puckerman grumbled but walked out without much protest and the other officers around stifled their laughter. Puck was a good man and an excellent addiction to the force, unfortunately for him, but amusing for everyone else, he still had trouble controlling his language around the stern Commissioner Gordon.

Detective Renee Montoya covered her laugh with a cough and shook her head. 'Serves him right," she thought to herself. Approaching the yellow tape she settled into work mode and concentrated on the crime scene.

Kane Industries reported in a robbery at 0800 hours, the tech that the safe had been guarding was cleaned out. By the looks of things it happened early in the night. Quick checks to the security systems indicated that nothing was detected until the workers came in, in the morning to find their lab in ruins. According to the report, the stolen tech was the new generation in weaponry developed for the military. Definitely not something that they would want in the hands of psychopaths.

"Yo Commish? The lab workers said they saw cards left on the ground where their tech should have been," Detective Montoya studied said evidence as her partner continued to talk to Gordon, "Could it have been the Joker?"

Montoya interrupted before the Commissioner had the chance to answer, "No, while it is pure chaos in here, this isn't the Joker's style. If he did do this he would've been a lot more destructive and deadly," she paused to look at Commissioner Gordon but he just motioned for her to continue, "If you look at the cards you'll see that it wasn't just the Joker card left behind. So it's either a really bad impersonator or…"

"… Or someone else entirely." Gordon interjected at last. "Good work Montoya, any ideas on who?"

She shook her head in negative, "The other cards were the king, queen, jack, ace and ten. If I weren't positive they were still locked up at Arkham, I would've bet any money that it was the Royal Flush Gang."

The Commissioner nodded, "Well they weren't the first to call themselves the Royal Flush Gang, I don't think they'd be the last. And right now it's our biggest lead."

Nobody in the room noticed the security cameras go haywire for a moment when they came in before going back to normal. From the other side of the city, four people watched the police investigation with great interest.

"Well family, looks like they're smarter than we gave them credit for. They figured it faster than we originally thought. Looks like our next hit will have to be better  _right_ Ten?"

Ten didn't answer; instead she scrunched her face trying to understand the show they were watching. "Daddy, you said this was going to fun like CSI, but it's not. They're boring, can we change the channel?"

"Ten are you listening?" The man questioned his daughter in a tone of barely contained anger. "And how many times do I have to tell you that you call King when we're… in the game."

"But if you're the King and Momma's the Queen wouldn't I be the Princess?"

The Queen brought a hand to her husband's shoulder, trying to calm him down. They had more important things to worry about. After all Kane Corporation was nothing compared to their next target: WayneTech.

_To Be Continued in Issue #2…_

_Magic Is a Menace, Unless It's Rachel Berry_

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so no Faberry action just yet... but a lot of other action parts are present! My original plan for this fic didn't have Batman as such a strong presence but you write a story set in Gotham... It's bound to happen. Also a lot of name dropping, so who knows who else will appear. Personally, I'm hoping for a Damien versus Santana face-off...
> 
> Up next: Some Quinntana and Pucktana friendship along with a new blossoming friendship on the rise that could cause some trouble in the future! Also, before Quinn can face Rachel Berry she has to get passed Zatanna...


	6. Magick Is A Menace... Except When It's Rachel Berry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quinn is Supergirl. She's faced down imminent peril and won. Several times over. So why can't she just go ask the girl of her dreams out? Why can't she even introduce herself?
> 
> Also Puck confronts Santana because of her newest hobby.

Issue #2

"What the hell happened to you?" Quinn was quite used to her friends unpredictability, but Santana showing up to their Psychology lecture sporting a black eye was surprising even for her.

Santana groaned as she moved to let Quinn sit beside her. "Nothing, just a rough night at fight club." The blonde heroine in disguise turned her suspicious eyebrow raise towards Santana and the girl winced, "Fine, I hit on a girl last night and her girlfriend got pissed. Real stereotypical butchy bitch too, twice my size."

Internally, the injured brunette hoped that Quinn would buy her story. The girl was her best friend but she didn't need to know about Santana's violently morbid and fucked up past. Her not knowing was one of the things that made Santana want to be friends with the introverted blonde in the first place. Back in Gotham Heights, all of her prep school bitch friends treated her like fragile shit or just stayed away in fear that something similar would happen to them. Rumours had flown around GHA Prep that her parents were involved in some shady dealings that led to their murder. Suffice to say it was a good thing Renee took her in before she went all kinds of Gotham Heights on them. Quinn was the oblivious breath of fresh air that Santana never wanted to exhale; she was the friend that no one else in her life had been for her. She just needed somebody to remind her that she was more than this wading void of anger and vengeance. Nobody could blame her for wanting to keep it that way.

Santana gave a sideways glance to Quinn and exhaled in relief when her friend nodded and laughed. "Of course, that's what happens when you hit on a girl who is spoken for Santana." Quinn's tone told the bruised brunette that she was still miffed about her threats last night.

"Pfft. Oh please Ms. Subtle-As-Fricking-Neon-Sign. Like I'd be afraid of you? You're the genius who walked into a pole last night. Besides the way I see it, the bodacious Berry still isn't spoken for. It's free game."

The lecture was about to begin and Quinn had resorted to harsh whispering, "Do you  _want_ a matching black eye?"

Santana barked out a laugh, "Okay Q-bee, you gotz yourself twenty-four hours… If you can't bag Legs by then than I'mma spread'em myself."

"Fine! I'll go tonight! Just shut up about you and her legs okay San?"

Hell, even when she's bruised and exhausted from no sleep, Santana still gotz it… She should have gotten an award for that brilliant display of reverse mindfuckery. As the professor began his talk for the day, she bundled her sweater into a nice pillow and used it take a nap on.

Quinn rolled her eyes when Santana let out a soft snore but chose to stay focused on the lecture, feeling that if she let her mind stray, the desire to puke from nerves would prove to be too much.

What the hell was she going to do about tonight?

* * *

Meanwhile at the Gotham Academy of Performing Arts campus, Rachel had just finished her classes for the day and as she walked briskly through the halls she pulled out her phone to see if Zatanna had left any messages. Preoccupied with the gadget, she didn't see the blonde girl in front of her until it was too late.

"OOF!" The collision sent both of the girls to the floor.

Rachel quickly got up to help the girl she just mowed down. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry! I really wasn't paying attention. They say you shouldn't walk and text but it never really occurred to me that it was so hazardous. Are you injured? There's a nurse's office in the nearby vicinity. I could take you there should you need ice or Band-Aids or if you just need to lie down-"

The blonde she knocked down laughed and interrupted Rachel's ranting, "Do you, like always talk this much?"

The Rachel Berry from two years ago would have taken offence to the girl's jib but since moving to Gotham she had to deal with months of Zatanna's wisecracking taunts and had learned to just laugh it off.

"I suppose I do, sorry again. My friend always says that being a motor mouth is a curse of mine." Rachel held out a hand in introduction, "Anyways, I'm Rachel Berry, current Musical Theatre major here at GAPA and future Broadway star, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The taller girl smiled and shook Rachel's hand with such enthusiasm Rachel herself was also shaking, "Hey I'm Br-" Stopping, she reminded herself that she wasn't supposed to be here, if Daddy found out… She didn't even want to think about it. "I'm Ten, nice to meetcha."

Slightly rattled from the joyous greeting, Rachel shook her head before addressing the girl once more, "Ten? Wow interesting name."

Ten shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "I like to think it's 'cause I'm so awesome that I'm a Ten outta ten."

Rachel had heard variations of that confidence many times before (Performing Arts School, hello?), yet there was no cockiness in 'Ten's' tone, just an honest belief in her own ability. She liked this girl already. "So Ten, what's your major?"

"Well I'm not in the army so I'm not like a real major but that would be really cool if I was one… and I'm not a student here either." Ten remarked sadly, "I just like coming here to watch the people dance, I love dancing."

The shorter brunette glanced passed Ten and found a group of students were dancing in one of the studios. From their moves, Rachel could tell it wasn't a formal class. "Why don't you go in and ask to join? It doesn't look like a class."

Ten blushed and shook her head, "No, my Dad won't like it. He thinks dance is a waste of my time and talent. And time and talent is money." She recited the last bit as if it was rehearsed and Rachel nodded sadly before a twinkle made its way to her eyes.

"Well is your dad here at this time?" Ten shook her head in negative again and Rachel brightened, "Then that means what he doesn't know can't hurt anybody's talent or money! Come on!"

Rachel grabbed the blonde's hand and dashed to the studio full of dancers. Ten looked around the mirrored studio in awe and barely heard the students talk with Rachel about letting them join in. When they began showing the two girls their loosely put together choreography and turned on the music, a switch came on and Ten transformed.

She didn't move, she  _flowed_ and everyone else in the studio couldn't help but watch in wonderment. Rachel thought her magical abilities were powerful, but her new friend's dancing quickly became the new definition of 'magic' in her mind. Ten felt like her body was floating, as if the entire world disappeared. No words were necessary when she danced; her voice rang out clearly with each move. It was a combination of so many awesome things, like a box of Lucky Charms that only had marshmallows.

The sudden ringing of her phone brought her straight back to Earth, and Ten ran to answer it, to everybody's dismay.

" _TEN WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? THE HIT'S TONIGHT AND WE STILL NEED A FINAL DEBRIEFING. GET YOUR STUPID ASS BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"_

The blonde girl was going to respond but her father had hung up.

"Is everything alright Ten? Do you have to go?" Rachel asked, worried at Ten's sudden change in demeanour.

Ten nodded mutely but packed up her stuff and made for the door. Rachel made to follow her but was stopped when the mysterious blonde turned around to give her a big hug.

"Thanks for getting me to dance Rachel. You're such an awesome friend. I hope we can hang out again."

And suddenly, Ten made a run for the exit and Rachel wondered why the girl's tone contrasted what she had said. It sounded as if they were never going to see each other again.

Rachel's phone alarm went off and startled her. Seeing the time she rushed to the parking lot, hoping that she won't hit traffic on her way to the Gotham Lounge. After all the times she busted her mentor about the importance of punctuality, Zatanna was going to have a field day if her assistant was anything other than early or on time.

* * *

"You can do this Quinn… You're the fricking Girl of Steel. You can  _do_  this."

The art of psyching oneself up before performing something of great importance was at first unfamiliar and very strange to Kara Zor-El. Talking in to your reflection in an effort to gain confidence was just plain silly. After seeing both Connor and Bart utilize this strange human ritual before their dates, Quinn thought it might have helped before she attempted to go backstage to talk to Rachel.

It wasn't helping at all.

She had missed the first half of the show because of some robberies nearby but managed to catch the end. She had to superspeed past the security to get in, but it was necessary. Thinking about Rachel's tuxedo/fishnet stockings outfit, Quinn was never so sure that using her powers to sneak in was the right thing to do.

Quinn knew that Zatanna knew that she was there almost every night and she hoped that was enough to get her the chance to talk to Rachel. She never expected that Zatanna would come to her.

"You know talking to yourself can be crazy even for people like us Kara."

"It's Quinn," The blonde heroine bit out in annoyance, "And what do you think you're doing creeping up in the shadows, Zatanna?"

"Besides using the restroom?" The magician retorted sarcastically, "Well I thought I'd find a crazy Krypto-hero talking to herself… and well look! There you are."

Somehow Zatanna was starting to sound more and more like Santana to Quinn, and there was only so much that she could take.

Sensing Quinn's ire, Zatanna stopped her taunting, "I'm just kidding Quinnie, by the way how are those contacts working for you? Nobody suspects a thing right?"

The girl in question frowned, hands going up instinctively to her eyes. Why was-

Quinn's eyes widened and her whole body tensed. That son of a-

"Bruce got you to put a  _spell_ on my contact lenses?"

Zatanna was taken back by the girl's sudden hostility. She began scratching the back of her head nervously, "And apparently you weren't supposed to know that…" The magician mumbled, "Bruce is going to  _kill_ me."

"Believe me he won't get the chance because I'm going to kill him-"

"Woah slow down there killer, I know you feel betrayed and you Supers always had this thing against magic but really? He was trying to do you a favour."

"By lying to me?" scoffed Quinn in disbelief.

Zatanna shook her head, "By letting you enjoy your civilian life without having to worry about your secret identity. I spelled those contact lenses to make people less suspicious and to keep them from making a connection between you and Supergirl."

Quinn deflated as Zatanna continued to reason with her. She grudgingly had to admit that it made sense.

"Besides," the magician continued, "Would you really want to be wearing a wig and those ridiculous glasses when you're living your day-to-day life? Let's face it Quinn you just weren't made to be a brunette," Suddenly Zatanna's eyes filled with mischief and mirth, "Speaking of brunettes…"

The suggestive tone made Quinn blush. She couldn't avoid it now; Zatanna knew why she was here.

"You know Rachel was heartbroken when she didn't see you the last two shows. I suspected it had something to do with the Supergirl in Gotham sightings but of course I couldn't tell her that. So I'll just do this." Zatanna waved her hands and a bouquet of flowers appeared. "Take note Quinn, these are her favourite flowers."

Quinn hung on every word that came out of Zatanna's mouth. She studied the flowers seriously, taking mental pictures because she didn't recognize them by name. The magician's laughter interrupted Quinn's concentration.

"Wow you've got it just as bad as Rachel does. Want me to show you to her dressing room?"

Suddenly Quinn's mouth went dry, the words 'Rachel' and 'dressing room' making her think of Rachel dressing and  _undressing._ What was she thinking?

"U-uh I-I don't think that would be a good idea, she might be undressing, o-or exhausted from the show. I don't want to-"

" _Rood_   _moor gnisserd s'lehcaR ot nniuQ ekat sgel!"_

The Kryptonian super-teen cursed Zatanna and magic as her legs started to lead her to Rachel against her own will.

She really hated magic.

Zatanna snickered when Quinn left the restroom screaming out Kryptonian curses. Her thoughts sobered as she exited the building. Rachel would be sufficiently distracted for the rest of the night, and maybe well into tomorrow. Hell they could be going at it til next week. The magician would have to take advantage of the time she was given. Searching for Shelby Corcoran in the depths of the blackest magic cults in Gotham wasn't an easy thing to hide from her infinitely nosy and stubborn pupil but it was necessary.

"What in seven hells are you doing Shelby?"

* * *

Rachel paced her room in concern. This was the second night that her mysterious admirer didn't show up. What if she was wrong? Rachel was so sure that they shared some sort of romantic love-at-first-sight connection but it was now two weeks later and she still hasn't talked to her. She didn't even know the beautiful angel's name. Oh God, what if she wasn't staring because of some magical attraction. She checked the tuxedo uniform that she had just taken off. Zatanna warned her that too much bedazzle would make her look strange. Could it be that she was merely amazed at the overly bedazzled outfit?

Thankfully a knock on the door interrupted Rachel's panic attack.

Opening the door, however, caused the poor girl's jaw to drop and her heart to stop.

* * *

Quinn's magicked legs wouldn't listen to anything her brain told them and she was forced to resign herself to the journey. She could just superspeed away before Rachel notices her there. Her legs stopped walking and Quinn was face-to-face with a gold star hanging on the door with Rachel's name printed in bold on it. The blonde gulped and thought it was time to get out of there.

So she tried… and failed. Quinn looked down at her feet in exasperation. Apparently her legs weren't allowed to move from this spot and not even her superstrength could help her. She really, really hated magic.

Having no other choice, she raised a shaking fist and knocked on the door.

The door opened to reveal Rachel in a short robe and Quinn's eyes dropped to her legs. Wow, those  _were_ magical.

Rachel just stood there, slack-jawed. "Oh my God." She was right there. The mysterious blonde stranger was right there in front of her… and Rachel should really say something before the beautiful blonde went away. "Gosh, you're really pretty."

Rachel could have slapped herself if it wouldn't make her look more ridiculous than she already felt. She couldn't believe that out of all things she wanted to say, 'Gosh, you're really pretty,' was the only one to come out.

Quinn looked up when Rachel spoke. It was impossible for her not to because the brunette's voice itself was the most amazing sound that she had ever heard. She watched almost hypnotized as Rachel blushed under her gaze.

Rachel on the other hand, was unable to stop her mouth from rambling, "I-I mean I knew you were pretty before, you know when you were in the audience, not that I was being really stalkerish but you make it really difficult for anyone to look away from you. Now that you're here, right here, and it's kind of a shock to see because you really are very… pretty," Rachel finished lamely.

Quickly realizing what she had just said, the brunette flushed and looked to the floor, wishing she wasn't feeling so damn awkward. Suddenly a bouquet of flowers filled her vision.

Quinn didn't understand how one tiny person could be so innocent adorable and achingly sexy all at once, but she wasn't complaining. So when the rambling brunette stopped talking she saw a chance and took it, hoping she wouldn't mess it up.

"Hi Rachel, I'm Quinn… Quinn Fabray."

Dear God, her name… her  _voice._ Rachel's eyes fluttered shut, making it seem as if she was smelling the flowers instead of trying to steady her heartbeat. "Hello Quinn."

They smiled at each other, each not really knowing what to say. Not one for awkward silences (or any silence at all really), Rachel moved slightly and invited the blonde into her dressing room.

"Did you want to come in? It's a little on the cluttered side, I'm afraid and I'm not normally this messy but I was running late today and-" Rachel paused as she saw Quinn make no move to go inside and assumed the worse. Shaking her head, she backtracked on her offer, "Or not, I mean I don't even know why I thought you'd want to-"

"NO!" Quinn yelled abruptly, making Rachel jump at the blonde's loud tone. The Kryptonian powerhouse blushed bright red as the puzzled brunette fixed her gaze on her, "No, of course I want to come in. I really, really do, but the thing is I asked Zatanna for directions and she spelled my legs to bring me to your door," Quinn felt like all the blood just went to her cheeks, "And now my legs are here in front of your dressing room… but they won't let me move."

Rachel's eyes widened and quickly made to undo her mentor's magick trick, "O-oh! I'm so sorry about Zatanna, she means well but loves a good prank. She says it's all apart of being a magician but I see no desire in pranking other peop-"

Rachel was once again interrupted but this time it was because her not-so-mysterious admirer, had just fallen for her. Literally.

Control come back to Quinn's legs but the sudden rush of magic leaving them led to her gracelessly tripping and falling flat on her face.

Magic was a menace, Quinn thought darkly until she heard Rachel's bells of laughter fill the room. The blonde Kryptonian looked up to see the other girl trying desperately but failing to hold in the chuckles. The effects were contagious and soon both girls were cackling with amusement.

Rachel finally calmed down enough to offer Quinn a hand to get up. The blonde grinned and allowed herself to be pulled up, leaving them face-to-face with each other. The sudden closeness made her gulp. Weeks of thinking, of dreaming about this woman and now she was so close.

They stared at each other and smiled nervously. Finally Rachel reached her hand up to brush a hair behind her ear before inching her head closer to the blonde's. Quinn bit her lips in anticipation making Rachel groan internally. Their eyes closed in a flutter and they could feel their breaths meld together in the close space between their lips. They finally connected and soon the kiss morphed from innocent affection to passionate fury. Hands feverishly explored as they continued to share kiss after kiss and Quinn had never been so grateful for the Kryptonian lung capacity under the yellow sun. The blonde moaned when Rachel playfully used her teeth to trap her bottom lip but when they moved to close the small gap between the lower halves of their bodies, an electrical force pulled them apart.

They looked at each other in confusion but narrowed their eyes when a familiar disembodied voice filled the room like a voice recording. " _Sorry Rach but as your mentor I can't allow you to do such **unspeakable**  things in  **OUR**  dressing room. And no it doesn't matter that I let you put up that stupid gold star in front of it… WE STILL SHARE IT. As such, I've placed this spell to cool you, and whomever you planned to do the dirty with, off. Get a room you two! Or three… You know what? I really don't want to know! Point is: get _ _ **another**_ _room to do_ _ **it**_ _in. Enjoy!"_

Rachel was going to  _kill_ Zatanna the next time she saw her. She faced the girl with whom she was just sucking face with and noticed she had her hands covering her eyes. "Are you okay Quinn?"

No, she wasn't okay. Quinn was desperately trying to cool down her body. The heat from their arousing make-out session caused her heat vision to go haywire. She had never felt this, this hot before. The Kryptonian super-teen clutched her eyes and put up her hands for added defence.

"Uh yeah Rachel, I-I just got something in my eyes."

Rachel moved close to Quinn and reached up to pry the girl's hands away from her achingly beautiful face. The blonde still had her eyes shut tight. "Here, let me take a look. Open your eyes for just a second."

Apparently Quinn's body could offer no resistance to the brunette's request and her eyes involuntarily opened to meet the dark, warm chocolate-coloured eyes of Rachel. For a split second, Quinn was petrified at the thought of turning the girl of her dreams into ashes but nothing happened. The heat was still there, but the innocent and caring touch of Rachel's hands on her own brought it down to a low simmer.

'Wow her eyes are beautiful,' was the only thought running in Rachel's head. Green and hazel swirled in the pools of the blonde's eyes and they seemed to shift every second.

Before they could get closer Quinn coughed uncomfortably, not wanting to experience the loss of control she had over her powers again. "Um maybe we should get out of here before Zatanna's spell does something worse? We could grab a coffee at the lounge?"

The short brunette's face crinkled with mirth, "Good idea."

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here Puck?" Santana yelled at her ex who had shown up uninvited at her door.

Still feeling bruised and tired; Santana was looking forward to a quiet night in. Thankfully, Renee was busy with a case and wouldn't be back until late. Unless she was going to go to Dana's place again. Or was it Daria? Whatever, the younger girl didn't get a chance to really look at her older cousin's phone messages last time she took it. The poor woman thought she was hiding her relationship pretty well but it just made Santana wonder how she ever got to be a detective. Pshh she learned better skills in Gotham Heights Adjacent.

"I need to talk to you San. And no it can't wait until tomorrow."

Santana observed Puck, noticing his rare serious face and moved to let him in. "Fine but this better be good. I had a couch calling my name all day and I'mma get's my sleep on soon. So say what you gotta say and get the fuck out."

Her ex brushed past her and stormed into the apartment not saying a word. Santana watched as Puck growled and paced the floor.

"Okay seriously? You came here to be all growly and wear a hole out in my floor? Why the hell are you here Puck?"

Puck instantly stopped and fixed a determined glare on the girl before sighing and collapsing on the coach. He broke the silence before the furious brunette could say anything else, "Did you know your father saved my life?"

" _What_?"

He looked up to the ceiling, closing his eyes and continued, "Yeah uh, after we broke up and left the Height Adjacent, I took a couple of turns for the worse and got my stupid ass shot," Puck shivered at the memory, "Your dad saved me. I was the big badass, the worst dude to ever date his daughter and he saved me."

Her dad had never told her anything about saving Puck. Hell, Santana always thought he  _hated_ Noah Puckerman. She smiled at the memories of her father. No, Dr. Lopez would never leave a patient to die just because the little bastard screwed his daughter. Probably told Puck that he put a bomb in there that would detonate should he ever hurt her again though…

"Yeah so he saved your sorry ass, that isn't really news. Hello, my dad? He was the best doctor in Gotham."

"Okay, yeah he literally saved my life but he saved my life in another way. He inspired me to do something about those stupid punks getting themselves in over their heads. I became a cop thanks to the doc," Puck laughed at the memories of his time with Dr. Lopez, "You know he even put in a good word for me with Commissioner Gordon. I turned my whole life around because of your old man and I owe him so much."

"Well it's too late for that isn't it?" Santana laughed darkly, "So what? You came all the way here to tell me about your miraculous recovery from the dangerous life of being a wayward J.D. in Gotham?"

Puck shook his head in frustration, "The last time I saw your dad, he made me promise to keep the streets safe. For  _you_." Santana flinched under her ex-boyfriend's scrutinizing gaze at her bruises and black eye."I thought I was doing a good job but you just keep making it harder don't you?"

Santana fumed, "It's not your fucking job to watch me like a creepy bodyguard Puck! I got into a fight with a girl… big fucking whoop."

They sat in silence for moment before Puck started up again, "You know yesterday we got a call about some new vigilante? Razorwing or something?"

Santana tensed then laughed it off, "Razorwing? Wow that's a really stupid superhero name."

"You know what the really funny thing is? The dude who called it in talked about a hot bitch in leather with razorblades hidden everywhere. Also said that she kneed him in the balls." Puck started to pace again.

Santana took to filing her nails, trying to look unimpressed "So?"

"DAMMNIT Santana I know it was you! Razorblades hidden in the cleavage? It just has you written all over it! What the fuck are you thinking doing this shit? Those guys could have killed you!"

"Is this really any of your goddamn business Puck!" Santana yelled in defence. She started stalking towards him, pissed off beyond repair. "You're not my boyfriend! You don't have any say in what I do! Hell you're not even a damn fuck buddy 'cause since I started playing for the rainbow strip, you're not fit to warm my bed. You have no business telling me what I can or can't do."

Puck visibly flinched then deflated. Turning his back, he made his way to the door. "You know I thought that after all we've been through together, we were at least friends. You know, my best Lesbro or something. I guess I was wrong."

Santana watched her ex move pathetically out of her place and sighed. "Puck wait." When did she get so fucking soft?

The cadet stopped, perking up at his ex-girlfriend's call. "Yeah?"

"I didn't mean it. Not all of it. I mean I'm still rainbow coloured as a fuck but you're more than that. I'm sorry." It was her turn to pace as she tried to explain, "You can't tell Renee about this shit. I just- this is more than some vendetta for me." At Puck's suspicious look, she expanded, "I'm not gonna lie yesterday felt really good. When I was beating the shit out of those lowlifes, I could just imagine they were the ones who killed my parents. But I  _know_  they aren't."

Puck tried to place a comforting arm around Santana. "It's okay Santana, we'll find those S.O.B's I promise. You don't have to-"

"You're not listening Puck! It's not all about that! It's about me too! This is what I'm meant to do... what I want to do! I want to keep these guys off the street. I want the fast car, I want the hot outfit and the fucking razorblades between my boobs!" Santana slapped Puck when his eyes glazed over. Realizing that the girl was getting serious he put the dirty mind away. "But most of all Puck, I want to help keep people from feeling the way I felt when my parents died. Helpless. Defeated. Alone."

He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed but he knew Santana. This was serious for her and as she broke down in front of him for the first time since she told him she was gay, Puck knew that this was a new part of Santana he would just have to accept.

Damn his ex was all kinds of badass now.

Pulling her into a tight hug, he whispered comforting nothings in her ear.

Trying in vain to wipe her tears away, Santana smiled into the crook of Puck's neck and mumbled, "You know this doesn't mean I'm letting you see the outfit on me."

"Damn it- OW!"

* * *

"…So basically since then, I've spent my whole life preparing for the stage. It's just where I was meant to be."

Quinn and Rachel lost track of all time as they sat in the Gotham Lounge talking. Drinks long forgotten, their sole focus was on each other. Quinn had never found a human so interesting before. Rachel had such drive and confidence; it was impossible not to believe in her as well.

There was a time when Quinn believed she would only be Supergirl as she saw no real future for herself amongst the humans. No real place for herself. Now she was talking about a future on Earth she didn't even know she wanted, sharing things with Rachel she never really knew she had to share. Like how she loved animals and really wanted to go to the zoo because she had never been before (at least not an Earth one). Or how when she was little she wanted to be an astronaut but was now thinking of becoming a writer, following in her cousin's footsteps. The most random things that popped in her head and the deep thoughts she didn't even want to admit to herself. Spilling these to Rachel after knowing her for only a few hours was both scary and exhilarating but as Quinn stared into her eyes, she couldn't think of any other place she wanted to be.

Rachel was used to holding a conversation up with another person by herself. Strangely, the brunette had no desire to be alone in this particular conversation. If anything, Rachel craved more. Rachel wanted to hear more of that husky voice that held so much depth to it. More time spent being awkward with her because it was just fun. And more importantly, Rachel wanted more information about this astonishingly beautiful person with such a big heart who loved animals as much as she did. After hours of conversing with the blonde, Quinn was still as mysterious as ever. Sure she had done her share of talking but Rachel's sixth sense was telling her there was so much more beneath the surface. Yes Quinn Fabray was an enigma, but Rachel wouldn't mind taking the time to unravel that mystery. Her gaze lowered to the blonde's chest and she unintentionally licked her lips. Yes unraveling would be fun.

"…only if you want to though." Quinn's voice rang out snapping Rachel's attention back.

"I'm sorry what?" Rachel reddened as she realized where her gaze was for the last five minutes.

It was Quinn's turn to blush. "Well I was wondering if you could sing for me? The Lounge is almost empty and you said that singing came as natural to you as breathing. I just wanted to hear you sing before they kick us out."

The lights of the Lounge went out abruptly leaving one spotlight on the floor and making the girls look around in confusion. Rachel looked to the bar and saw the owner Charlie winking at her. She smiled in thanks and turned to the questioning Quinn.

"Tell you what?" Rachel's eyes crinkled in amusement, "You dance with me and I'll sing for you. How's that?"

Quinn's eyes went wide and she stuttered out, "U-uh b-but I don't think I can dance!"

Rachel may have swooned at Quinn's denial and embarrassment but that didn't stop her from dragging her to the cleared dance floor. "It doesn't take much Fabray," she lightly taunted as she pulled the girl close, "We just hold each other like this and sway."

"This is good," the blonde noted, closing her eyes and lowering her head closer to Rachel's, "but there's no music."

Rachel continued to lead them and lifted her head to whisper in Quinn's ear, "I thought we had a deal?"

Quinn stiffened when she felt the brunette's hot breath but loosened up as Rachel started humming softly in her ear. The entire universe outside the smaller girl's voice disappeared once she started to sing.

_Kiss me too fiercely, hold me too tight…_

_I need help believing you're with me tonight._

_My wildest dreaming's could not foresee, lying beside you with you wanting me…_

_And just for this moment. As long as you're mine._

_I've lost all resistance and crossed some borderline._

_And if it turns out, it's over too fast. I'll make every last moment last._

_As long as you're mine_

They continued to sway and Quinn was grateful that she was holding so tightly onto Rachel because the girl's voice made her weaker in the knees than Kryptonite ever did. She zoned out trying to focus on standing upright but tuned back in halfway through the second verse.

_Somehow I've fallen under your spell_

_And somehow I'm feeling it's up that I fell…_

The lyrics seemed to grasp at exactly what the blonde was feeling and she pulled Rachel closer to her.

Magic was definitely a menace, but the spell that Rachel Berry placed on one Quinn Fabray? It was one she never wanted unbound.

* * *

The Witches' Order of Cane was among the blackest of magicks. They had long thrived in the dark caverns in Europe and so their base in Gotham was no different. The halls of the underground cavern rang with tortured screams. It wasn't an unusual sound to hear in the darkness of the cult's base but this time it was one of its tentative members whose yells were filling the walls.

Since she was a little girl, Shelby Corcoran would receive vague visions of the future. The ones that appeared in her sleep were among the most vague, but it was when they became clearer that she would worry. This night was one of those times. She knew that she had people like Zatanna looking for her and while they didn't know the full extent of her powers or her legacy, the darker magicks did and were quick to take advantage of that.

Shelby sighed at the psychic vision. It was of Rachel, the beautiful baby she had to give up in order to save them all. Shelby already had to sacrifice  _him_ , but Rachel was supposed to be safe in Lima. Safe and without any knowledge of magick at all. Why was she in Gotham of all places? Somehow she knew that it was already too late to stop the influx of her daughter's powers. Shelby needed to work quickly before the Dark Elders caught wind of the prophetic possibilities that lay ahead.

Rachel Berry needed to be stopped before it was too late.

_To Be Continued in Issue #3_

_The Ghosts of the Past Never Really Stay There_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: Quinn has fallen hard for the magical Rachel Berry but will ghosts of the past keep them from being together? Also what will Puck do now that he knows? Plus more evil plots and the appearance of a Bat-Family member!
> 
> Stay Tuned! And please read and review!


	7. Ghosts of the Past Never Really Stay There

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quinn undergoes pre-first date cold feet due to some disturbing ghosts from Krypton past and goes to... Santana?!?! Can she help the Kryptonian heroine overcome the doubts that plague her? Meanwhile, Ten tries to reason with her brother. 
> 
> Recurring characters: Detective Renee Montoya, Sam Evans (AKA Jack)  
> Guest-starring: Tim Drake

Issue #3

 

* * *

After a night filled with humiliation, desire, even more humiliation and magic, Quinn woke up the next morning feeling like she was floating on air. Looking down she realized she was indeed, floating two feet above her bed.

"AHHH!" Unprepared for the surprise flight she crashed to the bed, the force breaking its legs with a loud crash.

Fortunately the fall didn't seem to injure anything but her ego so Quinn got up quickly to inspect the damage done in her room. Well, she always thought her bed frame was a bit too high. And Clark thought she couldn't be a D.I.Y. Getting up to go get dressed, she saw that her phone was lighting up. A luminous smile graced the young Kryptonian's face as she saw that it was Rachel who had texted her.

**Rise and shine Quinn! I'll never be able to express how happy I am that we got a chance to get to know each other even after all the magical and non-magical embarrassments. So sorry I couldn't meet up today because of school :( but I absolutely cannot wait for our date tomorrow!**

**Xoxo ***

**P.S. you might regret telling me that I can contact you at anytime…**

If possible, Quinn's smile widened even more. Thank Rao Rachel hated the texting language. English was bad enough to keep up with without shortening all the words in communication. Looking at the ground she noticed that she had unintentionally floated a couple of inches in the air again and tried to keep the giddiness to a minimum. A sharp and distinctive knock at her door was enough to distract Quinn from any more thoughts about the tiny brunette that had successfully taken over all of her senses.

Opening the door Quinn saw that it was the  _always-pleasant_ landlady of the apartment building. "Good morning Ms. Fabray. There was complaint of quite the commotion here, is everything okay?"

The blonde winced as the older (way older) woman's plastic face crinkled up with insincerity, "I'm fine Mrs. Michaels, just a faulty bed frame. It broke, causing the big crash and commotion."

Mrs. Michaels' eyes narrowed and she huffed haughtily, "Hmph well  _next_ time you have a-a guest over try not to break anything that could cause permanent damage to my building!"

Flabbergasted at the suggestion, Quinn tried to assure her landlady, "N-n-no! There's nobody else here Mrs. Michaels! Just me. It wasn't like that I-"

"Regardless if it was with somebody else  _or_ just yourself; I don't want your perverse activities to bother anymore tenants! This is your only warning." And with that the grumpy old Mrs. Michaels stalked down the hall.

Quinn closed her eyes in frustration and mortification… Great now her landlady thought she was some sort of masturbating perv who breaks her bed frame.

In an effort to forget the embarrassing visit, Quinn returned to her bedroom to answer Rachel's text.

**I can't wait either… what are we doing?**

While Quinn had spent many hours planning out how to ask Magician in training out to dinner, she never imagined that the bewitching brunette would beat her to the punch. The Kryptonian sighed as she thought back to the night before, when they danced for what seemed like forever.

_The song had ended but they still swayed to the inaudible beat in their heads. Quinn thought back to earlier in the evening and nearly chuckled out loud. It was certainly the most awkward and interesting way to meet the perfect stranger but neither had any complaints about it. Quinn lifted her head and looked at shorter girl, hoping to gather more courage for what she was about to do. She couldn't back out now._

_As she leaned in for a kiss, Rachel opened her eyes. "Quinn?"_

_The blonde's hazel green eyes fluttered in confusion, "Y-yeah?"_

" _I was wondering if you want to go on a d-date with me the day after tomorrow?" Gone was the girl's earlier bout of confidence when she had dragged Quinn out on the dance floor. The magician's assistant looked up at Quinn with a new vulnerability, one that told the blonde that she didn't often take leaps like this and if she did, it normally ended in heartbreak._

_To Rachel's delight, Quinn answered with a smile that was as bright as the sun, "YES! I-I mean yeah I'd love to…"_

_The brunette chuckled in relief with the sheer enthusiasm in Quinn's voice. They continued their silent dance until Charlie told them it was time to go. After the two girls exchanged phone numbers, Rachel gave the blonde Kryptonian a chaste kiss on the corner of her lips._

" _Can I text you tomorrow Quinn?"_

_The vulnerability appeared once again melting Quinn's heart once more. "You can call or text me anytime Rachel. Whenever you want."_

_Rachel blushed, averting her eyes towards the ground before turning her shy gaze up at the blonde. With a tiny upturn quirk of her lips, she stepped into Quinn's personal space; the blonde not once minding the sudden closeness. "I'm going to hug you now, okay?"_

_Both girls grinned goofily and fell into each other's arms for a moment that felt so long but far too short, before they reluctantly parted ways._

The slight rumbling of her cellphone in Quinn's hand brought the blonde back to the present time and she scrambled to read the text.

**It's a surprise silly! :P You'll find out tomorrow!**

Why couldn't she stop smiling? Quinn thought her face was going to break but didn't care one bit as she texted back a sad face emoticon. She wasn't left waiting long for a reply as Rachel sent a rapid message back to her.

**Don't give me that sad face! Haha it's not as cute as your real one. Can I call you later after my classes?**

Without hesitation, the blonde gave her consent and put down her phone to get ready for the rest of the day, counting down the hours before she could talk to the girl with the voice of a hundred angels once more.

She stopped to look in the mirror; part of Quinn was still reeling from the astonishing events of last night. How could she have been so lucky? A wistful grin appeared as opposed to the dopey one that was donned since the previous night. Her dad, Zor-El would have loved the bold virtuoso known as Rachel Berry. Looking into the mirror she thought about her mother and shuddered at what she would have thought about her new love life. Quinn's vision in the mirror blurred and suddenly all she could see was her mother's disapproving face from behind her own reflection looking back at her.

" _This is ridiculous Kara Zor-El! She's a human GIRL! How can you live like this? This is unnatural and unnecessary, get over this stupid little Earth trend already and act like the proper Kryptonian I know you can be!"_

Utter fear gripped the young Kryptonian as her mother's voice echoed in the room with the same tone and condescension that was always there whenever she addressed Quinn. She whipped around only to see no one there.

" _You know I'm right Kara. Krypton would have never approved of your courtship with another female and you know it. You are the last true child from our planet. Why disgrace our dead culture anymore than you already have."_

"DAMNIT GET OUT OF MY HEAD MOTHER!" yelled out Quinn furiously. "She is not a disgrace. She is everything good that humanity has to offer and nothing you say will ever change my mind."

It was crazy talking to the voice of her dead mother, Quinn knew that, but she still couldn't stop. Apparently her mother wouldn't stop either because the mirror image returned with a dark smirk.

" _You think this human will love you? She will end up just like Finn-Ek and Cassie. Deep down you know it too. She'll end up using you too. This is what you get. It's what you deserve. Traitor."_

"GET OUT!" Quinn raged, hitting the mirror with just enough force to smash it without sending the pieces clear through the wall. Involuntary tears streamed down her face as she thought of all the insecurities that she had fought so hard to keep down were rushed back up into her head. Her mother was right about one thing, this would never been allowed on Krypton, at least not within the upper guilds. But Quinn wasn't Kara anymore and Krypton wasn't alive to judge her. The fact that the illusion brought up Finn-Ek and Cassie proved that it was just an extreme hallucination from her own mind. She had never talked about Finn-Ek's poor attitude on Kandor to her mother. Unfortunately it didn't make the experience any less traumatizing for the teen with mother issues. Why couldn't she hallucinate her dad's reaction instead?

The blonde wiped away her tears and got dressed. It was still early and she needed to talk to someone. Pulling up her phone she dialled the only person she could talk to.

**Calling SATANa**

* * *

Detective Renee Montoya was having a rough night, or was it morning now? Oh look, she thought, the sun is up. She didn't even get the chance to stop by Daria's. It was just another full night of investigating and dealing with the other jerk-offs on the team. Besides Gordon and Allan, all the guys were meatballs that gave her a hard time and enduring that for hours was starting to get to her.

Shuffling her keys, she made her way down the hall to the apartment she shared with Santana. Surprisingly the two got along better than Renee thought they would. In most aspects they were so much alike that it should have been impossible for them to cohabit a single continent, much less an apartment but it really amazed the detective how far they came since their heart-to-heart months ago. There were still times when Renee worried about her younger cousin though and the progress they made didn't stop her from going all parental on her ass, much to Santana's annoyance.

The problem with her little cousin was that she wasn't giving any hint towards what she wanted to do in the future and still burned through money like it was an ant under a magnifying glass. It wasn't like the teen didn't have time but Renee knew Santana like the back of her hand. There was deep burning fury there and Renee feared the day that it would be unleashed. Unfortunately Renee was just eight years older than Santana, although she tried her best to be a parental figure the girl still regarded her as that cool older sister.

Opening the door to the apartment, she noticed the television was still on and so were the lights. Renee brushed a hand through her messy hair in frustration. How many times did she have to tell Santana that she shouldn't fall asleep in front of the damn television? Her annoyance increased when she saw her cousin's sleeping form in the arms of her pig of an ex-boyfriend.

She smirked hitting her co-worker in the back of the head and coughing. "So what exactly is going on here?"

Puck awoke first from the hit and stood at attention, unintentionally throwing Santana to the floor. "N-nothing Sir- MA'AM! Nothing Ma'am!"

Renee crossed her arms, unimpressed while Santana grumbled as she tried to get up, "The fuck Renee? It's just Puck!"

"Yeah, okay," facing Puck she growled, "Why don't you go clean yourself off Cadet?"

Confused and more than slightly afraid of his ex-girlfriend's cousin, Puck all but ran to the bathroom, leaving a pissed off Santana alone.

"Seriously Renee? You know me and Puck play for the same team right? No worries needed 'cause I ain't abouts to do the nasty with dicks. So over that."

Renee sighed, her headache worsening, "Look I just- I don't appreciate uninvited guests staying over without my knowledge… You could have let me know."

Santana scoffed, "It wasn't planned okay? We just were hanging out and then we fell asleep. Besides you're not my parent you're my roommate. I'm nineteen for Christ's sake!"

"Yeah but I'm still paying for this place, the bills and most of the food."

"Because you won't let me pay for anything! I've got a fricking inheritance that could buy me two jet planes and a small island in the Caribbean, but I wanted to live with you because you're the only familia I can take for a long period of time. I guess you just wanted someone to go all control freak on."

Renee's eyes narrowed as Puck entered the living room again. "Your inheritance is supposed to go toward your future, whenever you get started on thinking about it! " she turned to Puck, "And you? I want you out of here now!"

Renee stalked to her bedroom in anger and Santana huffed. "What the hell?" Facing an equally confused Puck she apologized, "Hey sorry about Renee, she could be PMSing or going through early menopause or some shit."

"Give her a break San, she's had a lot of crap to deal with at GCPD. Some of the guys are harassing her because the Commish likes her best. I think it's 'cause she's a damn good cop but you know how guys are sometimes. Plus there's that new string of high-profile robberies that she's been investigating…" One look at Santana's calculating face made Puck backtrack, "Which I probably shouldn't have told you and you will just forget this ever happened?"

"Uh nah nah NO. You aren't changing the damn subject. What high-profile robberies are we talking about here?"

Puck just sighed, "Look you didn't here it from me but both KaneCorp and WayneTech were hit and are now missing some very valuable military and stealth tech. I don't want you looking for trouble with this San, you just started this whole kick-ass business."

"I wasn't! I'm just worried about my cousin," Santana denied the insinuation with a mocking display of innocence. At Puck's suspicious glance the fiery vigilante continued, "I'm serious Puck!"

Her ex rolled his eyes in disbelief at Santana's excuse not believing her for a second. "Yeah right. Well at least you won't be alone now."

Unfortunately Santana didn't share the same sentiment and waved a finger in the air to signal him to shut up, "Woah there Puckerman! Who died and made you deputy to my sheriff in this Western?"

"Look even Batman has a fricking sidekick! He ain't going out there without backup!" Puck argued, before Santana's phone lit up.

Lifting a finger to shush him, Santana checked to see that Quinn was calling and answered. She talked for a few minutes with Quinn before hanging up and dismissing her dimwit of an ex-boyfriend, "Okay I know you have this sort of unbreakable vow with my dad and as riveting as it is to hear you get so excited about wearing tights I gots to go. You know your way out right?"

"But Santan-"

Unfortunately for Puck, the spitfire brunette was already gone. He heaved out a sigh before getting out of there, valuing his privates too much to risk the wrath of Detective Montoya.

* * *

_**Undisclosed Underground Location Outside of Gotham City – Witches' Order of Cane Headquarters.** _

The cavern floor was filled with drawn runes and lit candles, just awaiting the final step before preparation was complete for the dark ritual that was about to take place. Three hooded figures walked ominously towards the centre of the runic symbols, the smallest figure carrying an ancient tome.

The other two figures made sure everything else was in place before Shelby opened the tome that she was holding in order to find the spell that they were going to attempt.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" The shorter of the two other figures asked in worry.

A brief look of hesitation filled the woman's heart before she snapped back at the fool, "If I were anything less than sure would we even be here in the first place idiot?

The cutting remark kept the youngest figure in the room silent, having no desire to incite anymore of the irritable witch's fury. He watched as the woman raised a dagger to her hand and spilt some of her own blood in the centre of the rune. Blood magicks were absolutely barbaric, he thought in disgust.

Finally ready to begin, Shelby sent up a small hopeless prayer up to the higher power begging for forgiveness, before starting the ritual.

" _Timoris tu senties filia mia, timoris magicae. Timoris tu senties filia mia, timoris magicae. Timoris tu senties filia mia, timoris magicae._

One by one the candles blew out for a brief second before lighting up again. Gusts of wind began circling the cavern as Shelby's incantation started to take affect. The younger of the two hooded figures gasped in fear when a ghostly skeletal aura rose from Shelby and flew out of the room.

The hooded figures rushed to help the fallen and exhausted Shelby and the older of the two caressed her cheek in worry. "Is it done?"

The suddenly haggard and haunted woman shook her head, "No… it's only beginning."

* * *

Fight with the only family you have left (that you don't want to punch in the face every five minutes)? Check.

Have an overprotective and annoying ex-boyfriend find out about your newest deadly hobby? Check.

Get your sorry ass saved by an awkward talk about said ex turning into your sidekick? Thank God check.

Santana exhaled as she rushed to her and Quinn's favourite non-Starbucks coffee place, The Bean. All this and it's only, she checked the clock on her phone, ten in the morning? The grumpy brunette groaned, it was her day off today which meant not getting out of bed until three in the afternoon. Ugh stupid Renee, stupid Puck, stupi-

"Oof!" Her thoughts were interrupted when she was shoulder tackled by someone who ran behind her. Incensed Santana grabbed the stupid bitch, "Hey watch where you're going-"

The vicious warning that she was about to unleash died in her mouth when she came face-to-face with a vaguely familiar stunning young woman with long blonde hair and sweet blue eyes. She was what Santana could only call the personification of everything good and beautiful in the world.

"Oh my God I'm so sorry! I just keep on running into people lately! I guess I'm a bit of a klutz…" The wide-eyed blonde rambled out before getting a good look at the person she had just collided with, "Uh do I know you?"

If Q even felt half of what Santana was feeling now… Well now she understood why her friend was so batshit scared of Berry 'cause this girl was leaving her breathless. Santana had seriously forgotten to breathe.

The mystery blonde gave Santana an indiscernibly intense gaze, licking her lips and then surprised the stunned brunette by assaulting Santana's lips with her own. Now she really couldn't breathe.

"Mmmph!"

And just as she felt a deliciously curious tongue, the girl pulled away with a wink. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. You just looked like you really wanted sweet lady kisses!"

Dazed and feeling like she might as well have been in outer space with the amount of air she wasn't breathing, Santana could only nod and mumble incoherently.

"I uh-" Before the brunette could get her bearings; a loud quacking noise erupted from her mystery kisser's hip.

"Uh oh. I have to go, but thanks for the amazing sweet lady kiss!" She gave another wink and bounced off.

"Wait!" Santana protested but the blonde was already gone. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she could have sworn that she had seen that blonde before. Damn, Santana didn't even know her name. After a kiss like that, she probably wouldn't be able to tell anybody her own name.

She had no idea how long she was standing there stock-still until somebody grabbed her shoulders and shook them lightly.

"-llo? Santana?" Not getting any reaction from her stupefied best friend, Quinn started poking her face, "Hey San? Is that drool on your face?"

Thankfully the remark was enough to snap Santana back to life. "NO!" The love-struck brunette hastily wiped her chin. It totally was drool but it wasn't like she would actually admit it.

The smirk on Q's face told her that they both knew there was some drool but strangely the blonde didn't make fun of her any more than the initial teasing comment. Raising an eyebrow in suspicion at her distressed friend, Santana motioned for them to continue on to the Bean.

"Okay so why did you drag me out here so early in the morning for Q?" Santana grumbled out, disgruntled from the mystery girl's abrupt appearance and swift disappearance from her life and her lips.

However when Quinn didn't reply with a biting argument that ten in the morning was not early, Santana got worried.

"Seriously Q," she addressed the girl as she placed a comforting hand on her arm, "What's going on?"

Quinn didn't know why exactly she called Santana. It wasn't as if the Kryptonian could just tell her best human friend that she saw the ghost of her mother who died nearly three decades ago when her home planet exploded. Finally deciding on how she would spin her tale of insecurity Quinn started with an apology. "Sorry S, I just- I had a nightmare."

"The fuck? You dragged me out here because you had a bad dream?" Not that Santana was complaining considering the tense situation at home and with Puck, not to mention the hot make-out session with the beautiful stranger but she still had to put up a front of indignation. "What am I, your fucking therapist? I better get paid good for this shit."

"You're not my therapist, you're my best friend but fine. How about I pay you in coffee for the next week?"

The brunette smirked; Quinn must be desperate for advice because she had just offered Santana free coffee for a week without too much of a fuss.

"Okay Quinn, payment acceptable. The doc is in. Vat have you been feeling hmm?" She finished with a poorly imitated Freud accent and stroked her invisible beard.

They both laughed at Santana's silliness before Quinn sobered, "I don't think I can do this with Rachel."

Santana's eyebrows rose up and Quinn exhaled heavily before explaining her situation. To Santana's credit, she kept quiet the entire time until Quinn was finished.

"…So after my dream I started to have this major panic attack and then I called you. Oh shit, she's gonna call in a few hours. I CAN'T DO THIS!" If the blonde hadn't been so frazzled, Santana would have burst with laughter at her friend's predicament.

"Let me get this shit straight," Santana started slowly, "You brought me out here because your dream told you that this whole thing with Rachel is going to get fucked up based on your state as the 'disappointment' for being the gay child in a very conservative community and the fact that your last two relationships went to hell?"

"I know it's stupid but-"

"Ah-ah," Santana shushed her panicked friend. "I ain't finished."

"Sorry," the blonde looked down in her apology, giving a damn good impression of a kicked puppy.

Damn that kiss must have made Santana soft. "What I was going to say before I was interrupted, was that it's not stupid to feel scared after having your heart stepped on twice. And as for the conservative shit, I get it. My aunt and uncle would have me shipped off to a convent if they knew that I batted for the other team."

Quinn shook her head, "No it's more than that. Finn was a stupid boy who I thought would be perfect for me and my pare-"

"Hold up Finn? As in Finn and Quinn? As in your names fucking rhyme?" The blonde answered with an eyebrow raise and Santana huffed. "What? I was just wondering how the fuck you'd get a mash-up of that name combination."

Rolling her eyes, Quinn internally winced. That doomed relationship began and ended long before Kara Zor-El landed on Earth. Finn-Ek was an aspiring military guild member on Krypton. He was tall and handsome, with a quirky smile that made all the Kryptonian girls swoon back home. Kara Zor-El never understood it until he fixed that special smile at her and for once the blonde felt wanted. Her mother loved him and had pushed for an arrangement but Quinn quickly fell out of the crush she harboured.

What gestures that were once sweet became increasingly annoying as Kara became little more than an object under the tall boy's thumb. His concern for appearance and propriety rivalled Alura, her own mother. Finn was the most selfish person she had ever met underneath the dim-witted innocence and charm. He was never what she wanted, he was what her mother wanted for her and once Quinn realized it she broke it off. She didn't know who took it worse, Finn or her mother.

"Finn was a mistake."

Santana snorted at the understatement, "No shit Sherlock you're fucking gay."

"And the first girl I fell for, used me as a replacement for her dead boyfriend who happened to be my cousin."

The deadpanned tone in Quinn's voice caused an awkward silence and once Santana digested the messed-up situation she whistled in sympathy. "Well that must have sucked major balls."

Both girls chuckled at the abundance of lesbian jokes that popped up in their heads at the statement before the brunette put up an uncharacteristic display of sincerity and kindness.

"Look I don't know what that girl Cassie's problem is, but clearly she's batshit cray-cray for missing out on a fine bitch like you. It was wrong what she did to you but that doesn't mean you have to give up on another chance at happiness and love."

"Who are you and what have you done with Satan?"

"I'm fucking serious Q! Screw what your conservative family thinks. Screw Finn and Cassie and screw your own damn cowardice!" the abrupt passion in Santana's speech took Quinn aback but it didn't stop the brunette's tirade, "I've never seen you light up the way you do when you see Rachel Berry. You're on Cloud 9! That's not something you walk away from. It's something you run headfirst into! You run without looking back into a wall and if you go straight through you're on your fucking way to Hogwarts."

Quinn was crying by the end. Santana was breathing heavily from the intensity of her pep talk. Wiping away the tears she choked out a laugh, "I don't know if Rachel would appreciate the Harry Potter/Magic metaphor but thanks."

"Pssh that shit was deep." Rolling her eyes, Santana pushed Quinn up and out of the Bean. "Now go and get your girl, Stud!"

The blonde didn't argue with her friend and merely gave out a light-hearted chuckle as she made her way back to her apartment. Santana was bitchy, rude, judgemental and just plain mean but she was also the best friend that Quinn ever had.

Checking her phone to see if Rachel had left a text, the Kryptonian teen was brought down do her knees by a sudden high-pitched noise.

"ARRGGGH!" She clutched her ears in pain before ducking into an alley to quick-change into Supergirl.

Stormy green eyes opened up in sheer anger, Supergirl flew off to find the origin of the attack on her earlobes.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the darkness of Ten's room, the tall blonde thief was surfing the net. The computer screen might as well have been turned off as Ten was lost in her daydreams of a smoking hot Latina and sweet lady kisses. So deep in the depths of her own mind, she didn't notice the door open or Lord Tubbington's meow of complaint at being shoved of the bed.

"GAPA? What's that?" The quiet question was enough to scare the blonde out of her seat, leaving the intruder breathless with laughter.

Ten got up and stuck out her tongue at the boy. "That was mean!"

"Sorry Sis, you were just so into that Gapa stuff on your computer I couldn't resist."

"It's G-A-P-A, Gotham Academy of Performing Arts."

"Seriously Ten? Performing Arts?"

The blonde girl sighed; even her only brother was calling her that damn name. Fine two can play at that game, "Yeah  _Jack_ , performing arts. I want to dance there someday. It was really fun when I visited! There was a really nice girl who talked a lot and then we danced and I was totally better than anyone else. I rocked."

 _Jack_  chuckled at his sister's exuberance. They may not be blood-related but Ten was the most important person in his world. The two blonds grew up together, ever since their adoptive parents took him in. They may not win the parents of the year award, but Jack would always be thankful for the chance to have Ten as a sister. He would do anything for the girl.

"Woah slow down Ten! I know you're amazing with that dancing thing of yours. I mean you're really, really good." When he saw his sister's shoulders lessen in tension he lowered his hands that he didn't realize were held up in defense. His sister was definitely terrifying at times. "It's just that dad-I mean King won't like this research you're doing."

The reality of their situation weighed heavily on the blonde girl with big dreams. In a perfect world, she wouldn't be Ten of the Royal Flush Gang. She wouldn't have grown up moving from city to city; learning, with each con and robbery, how to disarm high-grade security systems and agilely avoiding laser alarms. Ten would never need her big brother to muscle the victims for her, so that their father didn't force her to do it. She could tell her friends her real name and do more than kiss hot random strangers with warm chocolate eyes and soft cloud lips. She'd be at GAPA dancing her heart out and touring with Beyoncé afterwards before replacing Britney Spears as the hottest bitch. But the world wasn't perfect and they were a family… the  _con family_  of Gotham.

Seeing the distraught sense of hopelessness in Ten's face, Jack just knew he had to do something. With a renewed sense of purpose he pulled the lithe girl into his arms for a tight hug. "Love you Brittany."

She smiled at the use of her real name and hugged back with just as much ferocity, "I love you too Sam."

They were two-fifths of Gotham's newest Royal Flush Gang but in that moment they weren't conmen, thieves or black market arms dealers; they were just Sam Evans and Brittany Pierce; two foster kids who found in each other true family before the harsh realities of life scooped them away. No matter what happened, they took comfort in the fact that they knew they would always have each other. And for now that would have to be enough.

* * *

Flying through Gotham City with a constant ringing in your ear was quite difficult, but Quinn somehow made it through. Her eyes narrowed as she flew over a familiar red and black clad sidekick. Using her microscopic vision, Quinn found the source of the annoyance was being held in his hand. Tim Drake, third ward of Bruce Wayne, current Robin and the only guy besides Batman who would think of using this method to get her attention. Bastard.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't show Kara."

Quinn fixed her infamous glare at the Boy Wonder and inwardly smirked as he cringed, "Well how could I ignore a call like that? Honestly Tim, ever heard of a phone?"

Tim took a minute to recover from the icy look, Oracle did warn him about Supergirl's glares but he unwisely chose not to listen. He just knew that he needed to tell Kara this news-

Before Tim could get in a word, Quinn turned her head in alarm, "Wait do you hear that?"

"Kara I don't have super-hearing… WOAH!"

In her hast to the emergency, Quinn didn't wait for his retort and merely scooped the Boy Wonder under his arms and flew away. Tim sighed in defeat and just waited for the ride to be over. Glancing down at the bird's eye view of Gotham he wondered if his current position looked anymore ridiculous than when Connor did this.

**To be continued in Issue #4**

**Are You Ready For This?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *For those of you unfamiliar with Cassie in this story (no not Cassandra Cane), she's Wondergirl and (former?) girlfriend of Connor Kent (aka Superboy). After he died Cassie kind of went crazy nutso before she befriended Kara. Unfortunately her reasons for becoming her friend were more because of her Kryptonian connection with Superboy. For the purposes of this fanfic though, Quinn actually fell for Cassie and was really heartbroken when she found out.
> 
> Up Next: Quinn and Tim have a little talk that forces her to go back to Smallville. Rachel meets another member of the Royal Flush Gang? And Santana undergoes the most dangerous test of her life.
> 
> Stay tuned for more magic, mishaps and mayhem in Gotham City Secret Origins: Faberry & Brittana Issue #4


	8. Are You Ready For This?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> News brings Quinn back to the Kent Farm in Smalville. Santana gets some action (and not of the Lady Loving kind) but will a certain veteren vigilante keep her from becoming Gotham's newest knight? And what's up with Rachel meeting slightly dangerous random strangers at GAPA?

**For readers who don't know the entire story behind Connor Kent/Kon-EL (pre-new 52), he is the half Kryptonian clone of Superman and Lex Luthor. He died during the Infinite Crisis event but was brought back a year later. His girlfriend at the time kind of went off her rocker, joining cults that praised Superboy, kissing Connor's best friend and keeping Supergirl close just to feel a connection to him. Anyways this fic doesn't follow that timeline exactly but some events will happen.**

* * *

Issue #4

 

* * *

**Wednesday, 4:14 p.m.**

**Smallville, Kansas – The Kent Farm**

Quinn couldn't believe she was back here. The Kent Farm, the place where Superman grew up to become the morally good hero that he was. They always welcomed her with kindness but this was the first time she visited without Clark there. It was an awkward feeling but when Robin dropped the major bombshell that he did just a few short hours ago, she didn't hesitate to make the trip. She had to see it for herself.

* * *

**Wednesday, 1:36 p.m.**

**Gotham City, Harbour District**

"Ow! Jeez Kara did you have to drop me from that height?"

Quinn rolled her eyes in annoyance, "I don't know Robin, did you  _have_ to cause my ears to bleed with your dog whistle and now with your bitching?" She smiled in victory when Tim backed off, "Now come on Boy Wonder, we have a day that needs saving."

The hesitance in Tim's body language made the Kryptonian chuckle, "Look Tim, I won't tell Batman you took out the uniform in broad daylight and you can keep creeping in the shadows, just help me with this. I think something big is going down."

Looking down at the factory they landed near, he noticed a large gathering full of unscrupulous gang members. Robin nodded his head and they stealthily made their way closer to the shady gathering.

A rather large gangster came out of one of the storage crates, carrying box. He stopped to speak to one of smaller 'supervisors' guiding the movers. "Yo Cully when's da boss gonna get here?"

"He ain't coming ya dimwit. The King's got better things ta do."

"Yeah he does, too busy eating his caviar and rubbin noses with the jerk-offs he's stealing from. I gotta tell ya thems Royal Flushers? They're good but they could let us in on some of their lot once in a while."

The smaller man finally had enough of the henchman's complaints and hit him over the head with a rolled up newspaper, "Shut yer yammering and let's get this equipment out, King wants this set up before the auction tonight."

Robin's eyes widened from behind his domino mask. Turning to Supergirl he whispered, "They're working for the newest version of the Royal Flush Gang. That group has been linked to a series of high-profile robberies, Wayne Tech was the last one to be hit."

The eyebrows on Quinn's face rose to exponential heights at their find. "What's the plan?"

"It doesn't look like that's all of the tech stolen, but I recognize the stealth system that WayneTech was developing. That technology in the wrong hands would be very bad so…"

"Take out the thugs leaving one to run to tell King, all the while tagging him with a tracker so he could lead us straight to him?"

The Boy Wonder almost looked impressed, "Looks like Batman taught you more than combat."

"Or maybe I'm just that good." Quinn smirked before standing up from their crouched positions; "I'll be the main distraction while you take care of the ones closest to the tech."

"Be careful."

Rolling her eyes, she shoved Robin partly in jest, "Just make sure you don't get hit by the ricocheting bullets that will bounce off of me."

With that she strutted off towards the henchmen, cape and skirt billowing in the wind.

"Hey boys," the thugs froze in unison while the guards raised up their weapons at the sight of the Kryptonian blonde stalking towards them with her hands on her hips. At a single glance they parted like the red sea and Robin watched in awe, truly believing that Supergirl's power to do that had nothing to do with her alien physiology.

Quinn smirked, "Do any of you know where I could find a guy that goes by King?"

The husky voice accompanying Quinn's swaying hips and short skirt, lulled them into a deeper state of distraction until they heard the name of their boss. The smallest thug, Cully as Quinn recalled, snapped at the rest of the henchmen, "Whaddya doing just standing there ya dumbfucks? Get that Superbitch!"

Giving a quick wink to Robin's position, signalling him to move, Quinn gave a predatory grin before dispatching her enemies quickly. Bullets were flying through they air heading in different directions and Quinn made quick work of making sure nobody got seriously injured. Normally she would try and have fun with this, but there were too many guys with guns to keep distracted before they would notice her very human partner attempting to secure the stolen goods. So taking in a deep breath she sped further from Tim's location before freezing the thugs' legs and hands, preventing them from escaping or firing their weapons.

Once she was done she saw Robin disarm his opponents. Supergirl knew the unspoken rules of superheroing and unless your teammate was in some serious trouble, you never take away his or her bad guys; so she just stood back and observed. It was always a pleasure to see another artist at work and her time training with Wonder Woman on Themyscira and Batman in Gotham taught her to think of combat as a kind of art. Every hero had their own style and although Superman was one of the best, Earth martial arts were never his strong suits. Still Quinn wasn't Kal. She tried to absorb any of the human fighting techniques she could.

While Bruce was artfully brutal and each move had a specific purpose that all connected in the end, Nightwing tended to add flares of acrobatics retained from his time in the circus. Wonder Woman had a soldier approach, direct and vicious with weapons from the Ancient Greek era. Watching Robin was interesting to Supergirl, and she tried memorizing his tactics. Apparently Quinn also picked up some of Batman's watchful paranoia. As she watched his fighting style, she found that Tim was more of a mix between Batman and Nightwing. He was precise but would allow for some impressive feats, especially when he pulled out his bo staff. Spinning the weapon around, he knocked out two guys with a swipe before using it to vault him into a thug that was reaching for a machine gun.

Once the last man was tied up, Quinn stepped up to consult with the Boy Wonder. "So what's the plan now Robin?"

Tim sighed. "The plan is that I call for some back up while you head on over to Smallville."

Quinn cocked her head in confusion. Why did he want- "Did something happened to Mr. or Mrs. K? Kal? Lois?"

"It's Connor."

Her heart dropped at the thought of her dead cousin… and Cassie, "What about him?"

Tim broke out in a wide grin, unusual for a Gotham hero in costume. "He's alive."

"What?" Her jaw dropped. Of all things she expected out of this day, this was nowhere near the actual list.

"Yeah that's why I called you before we got distracted with this. Superman's busy getting him settled in because…"

Quinn could hardly hear Tim's rushed explanation. Something about being Superboy being resurrected in the future before sending him back to the past. She didn't really care about the how; superheroes came back to life more times than characters on a soap opera.

It was just the fact that Connor was back; it meant that the blonde Kryptonian didn't feel as alone as she did before. Being one of two Kryptonians (in which the other was Superman) and having a parallel universe doppelganger that hated your guts didn't leave a lot of room for company. Connor the only one who understood the pressure of the S shield and they had bonded over that.

Although the count is now two and a half Kryptonians…

Overwhelming guilt suddenly rose up as Quinn thought of the romantic feelings that she felt for Connor's girlfriend not too long ago. Would she even be able to face Connor knowing that she once thought that she loved Cassie? Oh God, the Kents' didn't even know she was gay. What would they say?

"Hey are you okay?"

She wasn't okay. The day started out so well, she had talked to Rachel, had a date with her tomorrow and  _then_  that stupid hallucination had to dig up feelings that she for which she never had closure. Looking up with tears pooling in her stormy eyes, Quinn planned to just lie but experienced an unfortunate case of word vomit. "I used to be in love with Cassie, I almost kissed her and then I found out that she was using me as a Kryptonian replacement for Connor."

Tim stood there dumbstruck as Quinn realized what she had just done.

"… Woah you two almost kissing…"

Her eyes flashed in annoyance. "That's what you focus on?"

"Hey just because I'm Batman's sidekick doesn't mean I lack a guy's mindset." They both laughed a bit, "Aw too bad though, Nightwing always thought you had a thing for him. It's gonna be a blow to his ego," teased Tim.

"That lasted one mission!" Quinn huffed.

The Boy Wonder chuckled a bit before frowning, "Hey it's fine, besides, it looks like we both had a thing for Cassie. I kissed her after she found out that I was trying to make a clone of Connor. It was really… awkward and wet. And just plain wrong."

His confession shocked the blonde super-heroine. For the first time, Quinn allowed herself to think of what Cassie must have been going through. Seeing Tim's tortured face at the thought of his best friend's death, the lengths he went through to get him back. Trying to clone Connor. "You guys were really messed up when he died weren't you?"

She could see the pure pain in Tim's face. Although they shared a familial connection, she was still distant enough from Connor to be able to move on but it looked like Cassie and Tim never did. Wonder Girl's betrayal still burned, but Quinn now had a better understanding and her heart felt a little lighter. It was never about Quinn and she was finally okay with that knowledge. She was ready to move on… with Rachel.

Giving a small smile, Tim let the scared thug loose, carefully planting a tracker at the back of his neck before turning back to Quinn, "I'll take care of this, why don't you go join the rest of the Super-Family?"

Quinn gave a small but genuine smile, "Yeah, thanks."

And with that she took off, flying on route to Smallville.

Smiling, Quinn checked her phone. Rachel wouldn't get out of her classes until eight and that meant Quinn had the time to pay a visit to her newly resurrected cousin before she could call her. Tim's reaction to her sexuality gave her the bit of confidence to tell the only Kryptonian family she had left about Rachel. If she couldn't introduce Rachel to her parents, maybe she could take her to meet  _them_ instead.

* * *

**Wednesday, 4:15 p.m.**

**Smallville, Kansas – Kent Farm**

Before Quinn had the chance to knock on the door someone came from behind aand gave her a back-breaking hug then twirled her around.

"Kara!"

"Connor put me down!" He obeyed and Quinn took a good look at him, "You're looking pretty good for someone who was dead for a thousand years."

The two cousins laughed and wrestled with each other until they heard someone cough. Quinn managed to get Connor in a headlock and they stopped their shenanigans to see Clark, Lois, Pa and Ma Kent looking back at them with amused expressions.

Quinn let go of the struggling boy and straightened up to greet the rest of the Kent clan, only to pulled into another bone-shattering hug when she got close enough to Clark.

"It's good to see you here Kara." He whispered warmly into her ear and Quinn took comfort in the soft voice that reminded her so much of her father Zor-El.

Finally getting air after Clark let her go, she said her hellos to Lois, Jonathan and Martha.

"Hey guys it's been a while. I think introductions are in order. I'm Quinn Fabray."

They all laughed at the reintroduction and Martha gave Quinn a welcoming smile, "Come on dear, Quinn, we were just about to start eating. Just waiting for you."

Connor gave the blonde a light shove. "Race you to the house Quinnie!"

"Don't call me that Connor!"

"No powers here guys. You know the rules." Clark added sternly. Rough housing with kids who had superpowers? Never a good thing for homes.

Both teens sighed at the handicap but it didn't deter either of them from their race.

It was nice having a family to come back to, Quinn mused, but she still had to tell them everything. In the year she had been living in Gotham, things had changed; Kara had changed. She was now Quinn and she didn't think she could ever go back to being just Kara Zor-El again. But if the family welcome proved anything, it was that none of that mattered. She couldn't help but compare Martha to her own mother, envious of Clark's chance to be raised by the accepting kind woman.

Maybe she would visit more often.

* * *

**Wednesday, 7:05 pm**

**Gotham Central District, Renee and Santana's apartment**

It was another perfect night to hunt. Damn bastards are always out there, hurting the innocents of Gotham and Santana needed to be out there stopping them.

After giving Quinn the most encouraging pep talk she had ever spouted, Santana spent the day thinking about everything that went down recently. The usually sharp and vicious brunette was surprised at her own burst of enthusiasm for her best friend, especially after the crappy start in the morning. Renee was being more of a bitch than usual, Puck wanted to be her new sidekick because of promise he made to her dad and it was nearly the anniversary of  _that_ day.

And then there was that kiss.

She tried walking all over the city just to clear head but Santana just couldn't rid her lips of the remaining sensations left there from the mack on she shared with Mystery Blonde Girl. That kind of connection without even knowing the person? Shit was scary as fuck. There was just an amalgamation of all these different feelings and the newly minted vigilante could feel control slip from her grasp. She hated that feeling.

The apartment was empty when she finally returned, and Santana assumed her cousin was with Darla or got called in. An elaborately decorated card sat on the table and the brunette picked it up out of curiosity. The texture of the paper and engraved words automatically alerted Santana that it was probably a Gala invitation. Her parents used to get them all the time. The memories caused the girl to flinch but she still opened the card.

_**Dear Ms. Santana Lopez and Det. Renee Montoya** _

_**You are herby invited to Mr. Bruce Wayne's Charity Gala Opening on the 21** _ _**st** _ _**of November.** _

_**In honor of those who had lost family members to violent crimes, Mr. Wayne started the Manuel Thomas Foundation. In dedication to the Gotham's most beloved doctors, MTF will devote itself to help the families of those left behind.** _

_**Please join us to celebrate the lives of these men and their families.** _

The sound of gunshots echoed in Santana's mind, followed by screams and visions of blood.

It never stopped flowing unto the pavement.

Why won't it stop?

_Mami?_

_Papi?_

_Wake up._

_Please…_

_PLEASE!_

She screamed out in fright and sorrow as she tried to bury those memories into the deep recesses of her brain once more. Unbridled anger bubbled to the surface as the memories continued to return, making Santana see nothing but red. She threw the offending hundred-dollar-per-card invitation furiously to the floor and raged at the nerve of Bruce fucking Wayne. It was just too much at the moment and Santana didn't want to deal.

Opening her closet, she quickly grabbed her gear and set off to bring the beat down to any low-down fuckers that chose this night to piss her off. Once dressed for kick-assery, she raced down to her car and sped away. Quietly a dark car followed Santana's own hoping to track her all the way to her destination.

Yes it was the perfect night to hunt, and Santana was out for blood.

* * *

Nightwing followed his former mentor into the Batmobile with great reluctance, "Bruce are you sure this the right thing to do? She's just a kid."

"That's exactly why I'm doing this," said Bruce as he started to follow Santana's trail.

"Come again?"

"I had twelve years of non-stop training all over the world for my mission. You had two years before I let you go off unattended."

"And Barbara?"

"Didn't have the anger that comes with what  _we_ had to go through, losing our parents right in front of us. If Lopez continues like this, she'll get herself killed."

"But still… this? What you're planning to do?" Dick shook his head, "Sometimes I question your methods."

The Dark Knight chuckled ominously, "Well you survived didn't you?"

With that he jumped out of the Batmobile leaving his slightly insulted former sidekick. "HEY!"

It was then that Nightwing noticed where they were, just outside Gotham East. Still the most dangerous part of Gotham City even with Batman's presence. Pimps and gangsters at every turn. Corrupted officials and cops made their home here as well. If Santana was here looking for a crime, then things could go bad very quickly. He was about to follow Bruce before he noticed a car pull in behind Santana's. It was that guy that she was yelling at when they were at the Gala over a year ago.

* * *

She didn't have the patience to wait for a crime to be reported on the police scanner. There was only one place in Gotham where low-life's got away with injustice every single day and Santana knew just where to go. Parking her car in an empty alleyway, she stalked quietly waiting for the ri-

A petrifying scream pierced the night, shortly followed by: "SOMEONE PLEASE… HELP ME!" There it was. That cry for help that everybody in the East side ignored just so they could save their own sorry hides.

Santana ran towards the scream and found a scantly clad woman surrounded by fifteen creeps. Fifteen very muscular, gangster creeps. The brunette gulped, thinking for the first time since she started this gig that she might have bitten off more than she could chew.

"Nice try sweet cheeks ain't nobody gonna hear your pretty little screams and if they do they're smart enough not to butt in."

The faux-leather clad brunette growled at the sight of the victim looking helpless amongst the crowd of worthless douchebags and all thoughts of her own safety flew from her brain.

"HEY!" The men turned around startled at Santana's abrupt shout but grinned lecherously at the sight of her tight outfit, "You idiotas want some action? Let's see if you have the cajones to take me on."

"Look here boys we got ourselves a hero! I think she wants to join the party… GET HER!"

Flashes from that night when Batman saved her shot through her mind but Santana was better now than she was then. She faced the woman, nodding at her to run before she assessed the situation. Santana saw one of the heavier guys and quickly decided to dispose the biggest threat. With a running start she jumped at him before landing with a hard stomp to his knee, the pressure gave out a crack. While he was limping in pain she through a hard punch at his face, effectively knocking him out. Santana didn't have the luxury of time and instead took out a razorblade making the rest step back.

The man who was yelling at the poor girl smirked, "Ya think you superhoes are so tough? Well eat THIS!"

Santana paled when the thug pulled a gun out but the sudden smoke pellet explosion distracted them. The brunette was at the very edge of the smoke cloud but so was another gangster who also had a gun out. There was gunshots were fired as the men trapped in the fog screamed in terror followed by the faint sound of punches being thrown. Santana knew she had to get rid of this guy in front of her, taking aim with her razor blade she threw it. She prayed and nearly screamed in excitement as the blade hit the man's hand forcing him to throw the piece in the air before he was pulled into the smoke cloud. She was slightly disappointed that it was just the back of the blade that hit him, but she would take what she could get. The newbie vigilante watched in awe as two men tried to escape. One got nailed in the leg with a throwing star and the other was quickly tied up by bolas thrown masterfully around his arms and legs. What the hell was happening in there?

The haze lifted and Santana could make out a familiar dark figure in a cape.

She gasped in recognition.

Batman.

* * *

"Move it Twinkle Toes!" Puck ordered, but the man in tights with two metal sticks as weapons didn't move an inch, "I'm a cop you know. Let me through!"

Puck was fucking pissed. First he went over to Santana's again only to see her speed off in a hurry. Then he followed her to Gotham East, a place that eats cops for breakfast and shits them out in the harbour. Now he has to deal with this tights-clad motherfucker that kept him from the alleyway with all the gunshots being fired. Shit, Santana could be dead already.

The sound of bullets flying died out and Puck paled at the silence. With no care for the vigilante blocking his way, he tried barrelling through to reach his best friend.

But Nightwing knew he has a job to do, he just hoped Bruce wouldn't be too hard on the poor girl. When the cadet tried rushing past him, Nightwing somersaulted backwards in front of him, once again blocking Puck's path.

"FUCK YOU! Get outta my way!" Finally sick of this bastard, Puck settled for giving him an old school beat down.

* * *

Santana didn't how she ended up in a stare down with Batman. She guessed it was kind of awkward for her considering the last time they met; she went all angry drunk on his ass. There was something off about his body language though, she noticed. Her eyes widened in unadulterated fear when the Dark Knight frowned even more (how that was possible, Santana didn't know), and started charging towards her.

Oh shit.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing? Fight me like a fucking man!"

Nightwing gave no reply and instead resumed his agile flips and dodges while Puck kept trying to land a hit. Landing behind the cadet, the masked vigilante flipped him over and trapped him on the ground.

"Let go of me!" Puck ordered, struggling uselessly against Nightwing's grapple.

"Hey! If you want to save your friend's life, shut up and listen."

The cadet's eyes widened and he stopped his struggling.

* * *

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!"

Miraculously, Santana barely managed to avoid the initial attack, but the Batman was relentless. So far all the girl could do was dodge the barrage of hits that the Caped Crusader dished out. He got in a couple of light hits that would probably bruise in the morning but that didn't deter the fiery brunette.

Breath Santana, she tried telling herself. She winced as she blocked a side swing of Batman's arm; the armoured gauntlet collided with her own arm like a metal baseball bat. A shout from down the alley momentarily distracted Batman and Santana took the opportunity to try to bash his face in. She threw the hardest punch she could to the Dark Knight's temple.

"MOTHER FUCKER!" the brunette screamed in pain, "Are you a fucking robot or something? Christ that fucking hurt goddammit!"

Santana's fit of pain prevented her from seeing the involuntary smile that ghosted Batman's face before the infamous scowl returned. He was here for a reason. Racing forward he gripped her forearm that was at least fractured when she blocked his side swing causing the budding young vigilante to cry out.

The Dark Knight threw her to the ground roughly, "You're done with this business."

"Fucking psycho, why should I listen to you?" scoffed Santana stubbornly.

"Because I'm a fucking psycho that just beat you without even really trying. And I never kill. What makes you think you can stand a chance against any other psychotic criminal in this town that have no problem with murder?"

Santana was silent, her ego now more bruised and broken than she was. He was right. Dammit he was right.

"Just go home and live your life, Kid. Don't go throwing it away because of your mommy and daddy issues."

With his message delivered, the Batman went off into the night, leaving the discouraged Santana to tend to her wounds.

She saw Puck run towards her and she turned to face the direction that the Dark Knight flew off in, "Yeah you better run Batman!" the brunette shouted weakly, "Afore's I go all kinds of Gotham Heights on your ass."

"You know if you want to keep your secret identity Razorblade, you better not mention the fact that you're from Gotham Heights."

Trying desperately not to cry, Santana choked out her retort, "It's Razorwing dumbass and I don't think this is gonna work out anymore."

"The name? Yeah, what were smoking when you came up with that one?"

"Shut up jerk! No I mean this whole superhero business. What was I thinking Puckerman? I can't pull this badass shit off. Agh." She flinched as she tried moving her arm. Santana pretended that her pain mostly came from her arm fracture but both of them knew better.

"So what? The big bad Bat tells you to mind you're damn business and you actually listen?"

"This is what you wanted isn't it?"

Puck sighed, "I'm not questioning your skills in badassery to do this hero shit. You're like the bravest person I know. What I wanted was for you to admit that you can't do this alone."

"Jesus, Puckerman. When did you grow a vagina?"

"I'm serious okay? I know you. Ignoring all this," he motioned to the rest of the East side, "Is going to drive you crazy."

Santana slouched in defeat. It most of been an off day if Noah Puckerman was winning an argument against her. "What do I do then, Puck? The Batman beat my ass pretty quickly. How am I supposed to get up to that level?"

"Even Batman had to start somewhere right? And look you lasted like five minutes against him and came out all right. Hell that'll just up your street cred. We'll figure it out. Now come on; let's get you back to my place. We can take care of your boo-boos there before I drop you off at home." He teased while helping her get up.

"Ass." Santana grumbled, finally accepting the help.

"But a  _fine_ ass at that Lopez."

"You are hella lucky I'm injured else I'd be kicking that  _fine_ ass into the ground."

"Kinky."

Getting into the car, they both laughed at the familiar light-hearted banter. Santana looked out the window on her side to hide the relieved smile on her face. Things were definitely confusing but she was lucky to have someone there. Maybe Puck wasn't a bad Boy Wonder after all.

* * *

**Wednesday, 7:49**

**Caverns of the Witch's Cult of Cain**

"What do you want Orpheus?"

The man frowned, he never liked that codename; it just reminded him of what he failed to accomplish as a homo magi. But he didn't let his mistress's biting tone deter him. Putting a hand on her arm, he voiced his concern. "I just wanted to know if you were okay Shelby."

The witch wrenched away from the touch as if she was burned. "It's Gaia! Know you're place!" He flinched and she exhaled a breath in an attempt to calm down, "I'm sorry, Orpheus. I just haven't been sleeping."

"The blood spell?"

"Is working, that's all that matters."

"You didn't tell us it would affect you too Shelb- Gaia! It's twice as bad for you isn't it?"

"But I don't matter!" Shelby snapped, "Only she does."

Orpheus pulled the brittle looking woman close, trying to provide comfort in a place that had none. "And if this doesn't work in the end?"

"It has to. But if I need to, then I'll send Narcissus." She mumbled into his shoulder.

"MISTRESS!"

The young man, code-named Narcissus, came barging in and the intertwined couple chuckled at the 'speak of the devil' moment.

"Yes Narcissus?" Shelby inquired as the boy caught his breath.

"It's Persephone ma'am. She knows the whereabouts of the power."

"No!" Dammit, Shelby needed more time for the spell to work.

"Who is she sending?" Orpheus demanded.

Narcissus snarled in disgust, "Midas."

Shelby paled and would have fallen had Orpheus hadn't been holding on to her.

Rachel…

* * *

**Wednesday, 8:08 p.m.**

**Smallville, Kansas – Kent Farm**

"HA! EAT LEAD SUCKER!"

Connor swore as Quinn danced around the living room in victory. The glare that Ma Kent was giving him at his language made him wince though. "Lucky shot Quinn! I was dead for like a thousand years! You totally have a handicap."

Quinn stuck her tongue out, "Don't be jealous Kon. Just bow down before my badass PS3 ownage skills!"

Clark and Lois watched the teens from the kitchen and chuckled.

"Kar-Quinn is different nowadays, freer. More relaxed." Lois stated, noticing how carefree the blonde girl was acting.

Clark sighed wistfully, "I guess Gotham's been good for her."

Lois narrowed her eyes, "Didn't stop you from calling Bruce every week to check up on her though."

The taller reporter blushed at the accusation but was kept from retorting when his mom came in with dessert.

"Kids! Stop horsing around, dessert's ready!"

They all settled in at the dining table again, Quinn grinning at the family gathering. It was nice, she admitted. And having her cousin Connor back was more fun than she remembered. They joked and played around the whole afternoon and it reminded Quinn about how fun it was to have a family member your age around.

"So K-Quinn," Ma Kent started, snapping Quinn out of her musings. "How's everything in Gotham? You make any good friends?"

Quinn blushed unused to all the attention being drawn on her, "Well, everything is okay, I guess. Um school's good and I have one good friend, uh her name's Santana. She helped me a lot during the last year. Showed me around Gotham and taught me how to get by at G.S.U."

Connor took a bite of the pie on his plate and muffled out a question, "Ifsh she hot?"

"Connor Kent! Don't talk with your mouth full!"

Swallowing his bite, Connor grumbled an apology, "Sorry Ma."

"I guess so? But she isn't really into your type."

The Kryptonian clone looked scandalized, "Dude, I'm everybody's type."

Quinn laughed, "Okay first off? You have a girlfriend. And secondly? No guy is her type. She's a lesbian."

Bringing up Santana was a test for the Kent clan. Quinn used their reactions at revealing her best friend's sexuality to see whether or not she could tell them about her own.

"Damn that's even hotter-OW!" Connor glared at both of his cousins as Clark had tapped him lightly on the head and Quinn kicked him hard in the shins.

"Pig."

"I'm glad you have a friend you can trust sweetheart." Martha commented with a genuine smile.

Quinn let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding in. Nothing, not even a flinch. 'Okay,' she psyched herself up, 'you can do this.'

"She took me to Zatanna's magic show. It was great and I sort of met somebody there."

Lois was the first to say something, "That's great honey! Who's the lucky guy?"

The blonde felt her face redden and she stammered, "I-I well, it's um Zatanna's new assistant."

Clark's face crinkled in confusion, "Wait isn't sh-"

"Her name's Rachel Berry." The blonde interjected before Clark could get in another word, "She's a student at the Gotham Academy of Performance Arts for Musical Theater. She's been singing since she was five months old, won her first competition at eight months, was the lead in every musical she starred in and will be on Broadway someday. She's the most talented, beautiful, kindest, magical person I've ever met and she asked me out on a date tomorrow." Quinn didn't know how she spouted that off all in one breath and flushed as everybody else in the room, including Krypto, stared at her in awe.

"She sounds lovely dear. I hope we can meet her soon." Martha's gentle voice broke through snapping everybody out of their stupor.

Connor grinned, leaning his chair back, "Hey does she wear the same  _ahem_ uniform as Zatanna? You know fishnets and all?" This time it was Lois who had used the tipped chair to push the teen back all the way causing him to fall. "Ow! Hey I was just trying to cheer her up! Quinnie looks like she's about to cry a river or something."

Everybody glanced at the blonde in concern but Quinn just waved it off and left the room. Tears streaking down her face, she made it all the way to the barn before Clark stopped her.

"Kara, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just… I-" she paused to gather her thoughts and wipe her tears away, "This wouldn't have happened on Krypton. Mother… she would have  _hated_ me for having these feelings. It was one thing to marry the opposite sex for love; at least the reproduction would serve a logical purpose. But… what I feel for Rachel? I wouldn't have ever been allowed to see her again and Mother would have me in an arranged marriage before I could even blink. She would hate me. I know it."

She finally broke down sobbing and Clark rushed in to console her. "Hey," he whispered, making the teen look up at him, "I may not have been raised on Krypton, but I know that with us? That situation would never, ever happen. The people on this farm, they're the most accepting and loving people on Earth, you included. We're a family and that won't change. Who you love is who you love, the heart never really gives us a choice in that and that's okay."

"Thank you, Clark." She whispered out, burying herself more into the comforting hug. Sometimes Kal really reminded her of her own father.

"Besides I think it would kind of a double standard that Ma and Pa could welcome three aliens in the family and not accept that, wouldn't it?" He added, cracking a boyish grin.

With that they laughed all the way back to the house.

When Quinn left shortly after the big revelation and began her flight back to Gotham. She couldn't help but think it should have been illegal to be so happy. Everything appeared to be going her way for once.

And okay, maybe she would never be able to explain to her parents that she liked girls over boys. Why that was the reason she would never marry guys like Finn-Ek. Rachel would never get the chance to meet them. Quinn could accept that and maybe that was part of the reason why she was so anxious before. She lacked closure on a lot of things from her past and the chance to come out to her parents. She was just grateful that she was able to close the doors on both of her heartbreaks before she started feeling more than she already did for the magical brunette who was quickly stealing her heart. And Quinn was even more thankful that her family on Earth was as welcoming and accepting as they were.

It was then that her phone started to vibrate. Checking the caller ID, Quinn smiled goofily, landing on a nearby water tower and answering the phone, "Hey Rach, I was just thinking about you…"

* * *

**Wednesday, 8:45 p.m.**

**Gotham City, G.A.P.A Main Building**

"So I'll pick you up tomorrow Quinn?" Rachel couldn't stop smiling as she finished packing up her stuff. She was supposed to leave a half an hour ago but couldn't resist calling Quinn.

She paused and giggled at the blonde's reply, "No I will  _not_  tell you where we're going. It's still a surprise. Just remember that we're spending most of the date outdoors. Not hiking or anything, just walking outside. And no you're not getting anymore clues."

The blonde's frustrated huff made Rachel chuckle, "Okay Quinn, I have to go now but I'll call you tomorrow before I come by okay? All right, good night!"

Rachel hung up the phone with great reluctance. Oh if only she didn't have such a great reluctance to drive and talk on the phone at the same time, but unfortunately such an act was dangerous. It was amazing that Quinn's voice was the only thing that could make the brunette even consider breaking that rule.

The halls of GAPA were mostly empty, Rachel knew that most of the classes ended by now and the only people left were at the lounges, libraries or studios. A suspicious figure in the distance caught her eye though, as it crept silently through the corridor. Curiosity won over self-preservation, as it often did in Rachel's case and the brunette rushed over to see who was sneaking around the campus.

Tapping the stranger's shoulder he jumped and turned around quickly before tripping on his own feet. "Ah! Oof. Ow."

"Oh no! Are you okay? I didn't mean to frighten you. Can you get up? Do you need help? Did you sprain an ankle? Oh my God did you break it? I'll get help right-"

The boy stood up quickly and covered Rachel's mouth. "Woah there," he chuckled. "I'm fine. You on the other hand, look like you need to catch a breath."

Moving his hand away from her face, she coughed to hide her embarrassment, "Well, still I'm sorry."

"Hi, nice to meet you Sorry! I'm Jack." His rather large sized mouth broke into a genuinely cheesy grin and Rachel couldn't help but laugh at the poor joke.

"My name is Rachel. So Jack what are you doing roaming around the halls? You look lost."

Jack scratched his head, "Yeah uh I was looking for the registrar for some pamplets."

"Oh!" Rachel lightened up, "Are you thinking of applying here? I could show you around if you like?"

"No, it's for my sister. By her description, I think I can guess that you already met her? She goes by Ten?"

"Yes how is she? Is she really thinking of going to this school?" she asked excitedly.

Jack nodded, "She really likes it here it's just our dad that won't like it. I just wanted to see how it is here. Ten really loves dancing."

"I kind of got that feeling when she was here. She is one of the most amazing dancers I've ever seen, if she sends in an audition tape I'm sure she'll get a chance."

Jack frowned, how much did this Rachel know about their family? "Um well could you show me around? I kind of want a feel for this place before I can support her decision to come here."

The brunette took no notice to the boy's slight change in demeanour and quickly agreed to show him around.

She talked animatedly with such exaggerated gestures and enthusiasm that made Jack think that she did this for a living. Did she really not know anything? Ten wouldn't tell her would she?

Suddenly Rachel's head started spinning and she faltered a little.

"Hey, you don't look so good. Rachel?"

She really tried to listen, she could see Jack talking to her but the dizziness took over and she landed on the floor with a hard thump.

Another, much more female sounding voice filled her head before she blacked out, succumbing to a nightmarish abyss.

" _Timoris tu senties filia mia, timoris magicae…"_

"… _It's only beginning."_

" _RACHEL!"_

**To be continued in Issue #5**

**There's a First for Everything**

**  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: Will whatever happened to Rachel keep her from her first date with Quinn? How will Santana and Puck deal with the aftermath of their respective beat downs from the original Dynamic Duo? Also, Ten gets her first solo mission from King.


	9. Set In Motion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Events are set into motion as Santana fights the mysterious blonde thief in her cousin's office. Quinn questions her onslaught of feelings for the very human Rachel Berry. And strange forces work to set our heroines on inertwined paths.

Issue #6

Set In Motion

" _Well it's a good thing I'mma bring the hurt to_ _ **you!**_ _"_

Santana grimaced as she broke into a head long run towards her agile opponent. Gotham Heights Adjacent learned her enough to talk trash but her injuries from the night before would not help her back up her threats. Still, the stubborn ego-bruised heroine was not about to let this bitch get away without trying. The way that the other girl seemed to shy away from violence could be an advantage.

Santana just needed a plan.

Puck's encouraging words from earlier in the day rang in her head and strangely so did Coach Sylvester's demoralizing shrills back from her Cheerio days.

" _You think this is hard? Batman had his back broken by a skinny ass kid doped up on roids! THAT'S HARD!"_

Okay, so Coach Sue never used that particular example but it was true nonetheless.

The Batman was broken in front of Gotham City and he still managed to beat Bane in the end. And although Santana's own badass alter ego name was in the works, she could get over a nearly fractured arm while fighting a thief and become a legend in her own right. Right?

The masked thief let out a relenting sigh but curled her fists and dropped into her own fighting stance. Impossibly long legs crouched down and Santana relied on instincts to guide her away from the inevitable leg sweep. The teen hero pulled a basic Cheerio one-handed back spring to narrowly avoid the thief's legs of mass destruction. Santana's landing took a tumble but she had the advantage for a brief moment.

" _SLOPPY LOPEZ! This isn't a competition against an army of cripples! This is the real deal! No wonder Bats thinks you can't make it in the biz. That's what we call it by the way."_

Instincts weren't going to cut it alone, Santana realized as her own mind was chastising her movements with clear Sylvester acidity. The tidal wave of a leg sweep would have taken her down and forced her to land on her bad arm. It would appear that her opponent was also quick on Santana's weak arm. The brunette took a deep breath and analyzed the situation. Long legs equals' trouble getting in close. Getting in close meant that Santana was one arm down in a fistfight.

Shit was screwed sideways from both directions.

But the last few days made her realize something.

Since when did Santana Fucking Lopez let herself get screwed from both directions without it being on her own terms?

And since when could she not have fun doing it?

A sharp and shiny letter opener caught her eye and the mad dash to get to it confused the heavily masked thief. That's it Santana, keep them guessing. Keep your distance. Keep your target in sight.

Less than nimble tumbles and dives would have gotten the former head Cheerio at the bottom of the pyramid but in her current predicament, they got Santana a multitude of MacGyver-like ammunition to let loose on the unsuspecting criminal.

"Ah!" a girlish squeal came out garbled under the voice-changer's cover. Santana's aim and swiftness proved too much for the young thief and the initial letter opener had even drawn blood.

Before Santana could deliver the final blow, a heavy paperweight to the head, Renee's computer emitted a sound that distracted both girls. The thief dashed towards the screen and retrieved her USB flash drive.

She looked in Santana's direction and gave a playful wave, "The computer says I'm done now and I have to go, but it was nice dancing with you!"

The thief seemed to almost skip down the hall and Santana had to blink in wonder before she snapped out of it. "Aww hell naw!"

She quickly barrelled after the thief but she was stopped in her tracks when the other girl abruptly stopped to face her. Both fighters were slightly out of breath from their skirmish but Santana would be damned if she gave up now.

Brittany sighed in resignation. She really didn't want to hurt anybody but this girl was stubborn like that piece of gum you accidentally sit on. Her lips quirked at the metaphor that appeared in her mind; in any other situation, she definitely wouldn't mind the thought of having a girl like her opponent stuck on her. Unfortunately time was of the essence and King waited for nobody, not even his own daughter.

She winced as the masked vigilante's fist connected hard with her shoulder. Brittany had moved just in time to avoid getting punched in the head. It was time to end this. She backed away from her opponent crouching slightly and nodded her head when the girl took her bait by sprinting towards her exactly like she had before.

Brittany waited for the girl to flip over her head before suddenly standing up bringing up her right leg straight up to kick her in the side.

"Ugh!" the poor girl grunted as the force of the kick sent her reeling into the wall behind Brittany.

The blonde winced at the person-sized dent in the wall and watched in amazement as the masked girl tried to get up again. Tried, being the apt word.

"You think I'm done bitch? You'z be in for a lotta hurt when I ca- once I-" Santana's whimpered in pain and stiffened when the thief put her hands on her shoulders.

"Please, let's stop the violence... Please." The blonde whispered gently. The tone in her voice belayed her concern for Santana and befuddled the injured heroine. Before she could blink, the thief was gone, leaving Santana with only one question on her mind.

Who was that girl?

* * *

Rachel was settling in for the night with the same goofy grin she'd worn for the better part of the day. How lucky was she to meet such a perfect girl? How in the world could said perfect girl even be remotely interested in one Rachel Berry? Was it possible to have such an intense connection with someone she had just met?

She didn't have any answers and was content enough to leave them be. Whatever happened between her and Quinn, she knew somehow that the enigmatic and mysterious blonde would become a permanent fixture in Rachel's life from now on.

A gust of wind coming in from the open window in Rachel's room shook her out of her daze and she was once again reminded that she would be alone for the night. The halls of her partly shared apartment seemed even more dark and empty than they had before. She smiled faintly as she realized that thinking of Quinn, being with Quinn, and thinking of being with Quinn was much like floating on top of the clouds and soaking in the sun. The reality of touching back down on the ground was more like a sixty-foot drop. Rachel would have never admitted it to Zatanna but her blackout from the night before was terrifying. The nightmares were terrifying.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Rachel stared intently at her own palms. With one incantation and a flick of the wrist, she could make an audience light up with childish delight and wonder, or she could take somebody's arm off. Zatanna was never the one to dwell on the sheer power they both had but then again she grew up knowing exactly what she could do. Rachel had known about her powers for just over a year.

They were still exciting and new… but mostly still very scary.

Perhaps that was part of why Rachel liked Quinn so much. The poor girl was somehow just as wary of the power of magicks as Rachel was and yet she returned for every magic show for two weeks just to see her.

And there she was, thinking of Quinn yet again. Once more her worries vanished from her mind like a magick trick in Zatanna's show. The one with the bunnies that Z assured were never harmed.

Sitting by the vanity as she hummed the intro to "As Long As You're Mine," the infamous goofy grin crept its way back onto Rachel's face. She brushed her hair, careful to take as much time brushing her hair as it would to finish singing the song to herself.

Another gust of wind blew into the room but Rachel paid no mind to the comforting chill.

It was strange though, Rachel noted, each time a gust of wind reached her room she could have sworn she saw a blur of red and blue.

The same red and blue blur that often saved her from the darkness in her dreams.

* * *

Supergirl wasn't stalking the girl she liked.

Nope, that wasn't it at all.

The super-heroine was merely doing her duty as a… well, as a super-heroine. Zatanna specifically asked her to look after Rachel Berry, magician-in-training and this was exactly what she was going to do, professionally.

She wasn't using her special vision to stare at Rachel's hair as she brushed it while looking wistfully in the mirror, Quinn was merely checking in on her physical health from a visual standpoint. Visual proof that she was okay, that was it.

And when Supergirl utilized her enhanced hearing abilities to listen in on Rachel, it wasn't so she could hear glimpses of the tiny brunette sing to herself as she got ready for bed. No, it was so that Quinn could hear Rachel should her heart rate spike in fear or terror, or if she screamed from being attacked.

Yes that was exactly why she was perched on a rooftop with Rachel in her line of super-sight and hearing.

That wasn't stalking, was it?

The sounds of police sirens in the distance, eighteen blocks away to be precise, caught the Kryptonian powerhouse's attention and she sighed at the thought of leaving Rachel, someone who was becoming more and more precious to her with each passing moment

Gunshots rang out in her super-hearing ears and the Kryptonian zoomed in to check on Rachel one last time before speeding away to swiftly put a stop to an armed robbery attempt. As soon as she finished, that damned hearing of hers picked up a piercing scream near the Gotham Harbour Front.

Quinn huffed and flew back to see Rachel before saving a woman from swimming with the fishes.

It continued to go on for the next couple of hours. She'd finish with a heroic save and another would pop up on the other side of the city. Any other night. It had to be this one.

Sadly as much as Supergirl wished she could keep watch over her girl until Zatanna came back, she was still a superhero and the citizens of Gotham Ci-

" _CODE RED! WE NEED SOME BACK-UP ASAP! Where the hell is Superman?"_

… Correction: the citizens of Gotham City  _and_  Metropolis still needed Supergirl.

* * *

Santana took only a couple of moments stunned on the ground before she realized that she just destroyed the office desks of several police officers and she was still in the building.

'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.'

Making a scramble back to her cousin's computer she went stock still at the sight of the lit up computer screen. The case Renee was investigating was still open with all files connected to it. Santana glanced at the office across the room, Commissioner Gordon's office and sighed contemplatively.

She would only have time to retrieve information from one GCPD employee.

A noise from outside in the hall snapped Santana out of her thoughts and she sprung into action. Batman was lucky that familia came first. Somebody had to look out for Detective Montoya and as much as she trusted Puck, there was only so much he could do in the office. Spotting one of Renee's embarrassing Hello Kitty USB drives (one that she had often teases her older cousin about), she made quick work of copying the same files that the thief took. Luckily for Santana, the blonde girl was sloppy and left the files highlighted.

The rays of a flashlight peeked through the closed doors and Santana knew her time was limited.

Fuck.

Life was  _ **way**_  too short to wait for these fucking USB things to be finished.

Typing a quick note to Renee before turning off the monitor, the budding vigilante rushed towards the back exit that the blonde girl had slipped out of earlier. She could feel the bruises begin to form around her body and winced at the thought of tomorrow's aches and pains.

Shit, she had class the next day. Santana groaned at the mere thought of her early lecture and made her way back to her carefully hidden car.

Q better be there taking notes, Santana grumbled to herself, cause the only thing her notebook would be used for the next day was as a pillow.

* * *

It was close to three in the morning before she was finished with disasters in Gotham, Metropolis, Kenya, Kyoto and Rome. Quinn heaved a sigh more out of the relieving thought of being finished for the night rather than actual exhaustion. It was shortly after her initial arrival on Earth, that she had found that on a sunny day, her Kryptonian battery power would provide her with enough energy to last her a good forty-eight hours straight without sleeping. Bruce wanted to push her further with the intent of making her superhero shifts longer and more productive but both Clark and Diana vetoed the idea.

Her cousin and Amazonian mentor both believed that she needed to at least try to live a normal human life for part of the time. And this was how she was going to spend it. Keeping an eye on (NOTE: NOT STALKING) Rachel Barbra Berry. Her enhanced gaze focused on the petite brunette curled up in the large bed and Quinn just barely fought off the rather hormonal instinct to join her.

As Kara on Krypton, she had never felt such a pull towards another person. Never had she wanted to be with someone twenty-four hours a day and now she was borderline STALKING this  _human_ girl. The statement struck Quinn's mind suddenly, faster than a speeding bullet.

_**Human girl.** _

_**Human.** _

Something that Supergirl was definitely not. Not when she struggled everyday to use the most minimal amount of strength, so she wouldn't crumble a door handle or break somebody's hand.

In Quinn's state of deep thought, she didn't notice that she was hovering closer to the open windowsill. If she had focused her super-hearing, the Kryptonian would have noticed a not so steady and sleeping heartbeat in the room.

_**Human.** _

While on Earth, she had often heard the phrase "It's okay to make mistakes. It's only human."

But she wasn't human.

She wasn't a normal girl. She was Supergirl of Krypton.

And more often than not, she couldn't afford to "make mistakes" as a human. They had disastrous effects on the world.

_**Human.** _

What did that even mean?

To be human.

To become one of them. Pretend to be one of them.

To live among them but never truly belong.

Was she pretending? How much of it was pretend? Not a lot, surely. Would Rachel forgive Quinn if she knew? Would Rachel even  _want_  to be with an alien?

Would she even be able to look at Quinn the same way again?

Quinn gasped and clutched her heart. A pain worse than a thousand pieces of Kryptonite had seized it.

But she wasn't any different; she tried to tell herself, still hovering closer to Rachel's room. She didn't feel things differently on Earth than she did on Krypton. She had felt happy, and sad, and she had made mistakes on both planets. So why was it important to define herself as human?

Maybe xenophobia wasn't just a Kryptonian thing?

Krypton's entire population wouldn't have been considered "human" but why? The emotions felt were no different on either planet.

Her father was inexplicably and surprisingly deeply in love with her mother. As stubborn and unrelenting and so structurally traditional as the woman was; Zor-El loved Alura with everything he had. Anything he had left was devoted to Kara. He was so passionate, where her mother was unfeeling and when he talked about the love he felt, Kara could only listen with rapt attention. It was part of the reason why Finn-Ek didn't last long with the courting.

Try as she might, Kara never felt the heat of a thousand stars when he smiled nor did she felt as though her whole body was encased, frozen in crystal whenever Finn was near.

But those were examples that described what she felt every time she was with Rachel.

Quinn smiled sadly at the thought, if only her father were here now, she could use some of his sappy poetry or ever-encouraging advice. She shook her head as if to shake her earlier human crisis. Thinking of Zor-El made things clearer.

Her father's beautiful words transcended all things Kryptonian, human; whatever it meant to feel and reached out to Quinn to secure her in the knowledge that she was definitely falling in love with Rachel Berry.

Species, race, gender: what did it matter? The emotions felt were genuine and pure and-

"I know you're out there."

Quinn had faced Darkseid, evil New God from another dimension. She had trained on an island filled with scary badass Amazonian warriors and came out as one of them. She had battled countless monsters, psychopaths and even her own cousin, Superman. But none of those experiences compared to the almost literal heart attack she just suffered at Rachel's gentle voice piercing the quiet night, scaring her out of the deep philosophical recesses of her own mind.

She covered her mouth quickly when she realized a shrill squeal had emitted from it. Quinn's eyes narrowed at the bundle of blankets in the room. Rachel hadn't turned around.

Shouldn't she be asleep? As if reading the Kryptonian's mind, Rachel started talking.

"I know I should be asleep but I just wanted to make sure you were real. It was just a feeling you know? A special… presence I could sense. Magick, I guess. At first I thought you were a stalker, which would have been quite flattering considering the fact that I haven't even debuted as a Broadway star yet but-" Rachel paused abruptly and the girl floating outside the windowsill huffed. NOT STALKING. But still Quinn kept quiet, not yet brave enough to talk to the girl of her dreams as Supergirl. "-But that's not the point. The point is I know you've been keeping watch over me this whole night. Thank you."

It was official, Rachel Berry was insane.

Quinn was floored but strangely relieved. Accepting and thanking a would-be stalker (but NOT a stalker), meant that Rachel could be more receptive to other things as well. Like dating an alien from a dead planet who was stuck in suspended animation for over twenty-five years? Maybe.

"It's kind of strange thanking somebody who can vanish in thin air. A red and blue blur. But I feel safe when you're around. I actually woke up because I could tell that you weren't there for a minute. Since this whole thing started, the only times I've felt safer were when I was with Qu- a friend." Rachel continued to ramble but Quinn just waited patiently, too intrigued with the girl's speech to interrupt. "Maybe Zatanna summoned you to protect me while she's gone. Promise you won't tell her, but those nightmares, the blackout, they scared me out of my mind. The only thing that kept me going today was my time with that  _friend_. The nightmares reminded me a little of when I first got my powers. That loss of control. When something as simple as a cry or a hand gesture could totally destroy a room… or a person."

She shivered and Quinn ached to comfort the trembling girl but she willed her body to stop. She wasn't Quinn Fabray, human hopeful to court Rachel Berry; she was Kara Zor-El, Supergirl. She could only listen right now.

"Magick still scares me. I think it always will. But it doesn't scare Zatanna. I have to be strong like her. Or else the scary parts of myself would hurt people. I can sense it."

It was easy to forgot, between the entrancing first meeting, dancing under a spotlight and going on a normal date, that Rachel was just as "Super" as Supergirl, just in different ways. Quinn finally found somebody who could understand exactly what she was feeling, who could empathize without patronizing. If only Quinn could tell her.

"You make it better, like Qu- somebody else I know. It always feels like sunshine. Like a burst of sunshine whenever she's near." Rachel's giggle surprised the teen hero. Why was she laughing all of a sudden? "It's like I've got sunshine on a cloudy day. When it's cold outsiiiddde, I've got the month of May."

Full-blown chuckles filled the room and Quinn tried to figure out what was so funny. And also why Rachel suddenly burst out into song.

The laughter subsided and being one to never sit in silence for long, Rachel continued talking to her silent and invisible protector, "Sorry, that's one of my "Get Happy" songs. If my life were a musical, and it will become one someday, a happy song like "My Girl" would be on the set list. You just can't help but smile and the world could always use more smiles in it." the brunette stopped and yawned loudly, "Anyways, I'd like to thank you again for keeping such a vigilante watch over me. And thank you for listening, I tend to ramble on and a lot of people are often put off by how much I can talk, so if it ever becomes too much just tell me. That is if you can talk."

It was silent for a few moments and Quinn started to think that the girl had fallen asleep but her voice broke out once more, unusually subdued this time, "Do you think you could come again tomorrow? The dark isn't so scary when I know you're here and I can't really ask Q- my friend because everything with her is still so new. I just don't want to scare her off with this stuff. So please?"

There it was; the same vulnerability that Quinn saw when Rachel had asked her out the other night. Now she knew why it struck her so much the first time. It was the same vulnerability that Kara Zor-El felt when she awoke from her suspended state. The vulnerability that stemmed from being totally unprepared for the supernatural responsibilities that they were shouldered with. Vulnerability that was also founded on loneliness; because even though they had awe-inspiring mentors and guides to help them with their powers, they would always be in their shadows. No one else knew how heavy that was.

Soft snores filled the room and Quinn smiled adoringly at the exhausted brunette who had just bared her soul to a stalking red and blue blur. Thinking on it, Quinn should talk to her new… friend about who she should talk to about this stuff. She really could have just been a stalking pervert after all.

She longed to be able to tell the girl that she understood. That she wasn't alone. But it could wait. They would get there eventually; it was just going to take a little work.

Nothing could wipe the hopeful grin on Quinn's face as she zoomed back to her own apartment. While she still had some energy left, the Kryptonian still managed to be lulled to sleep by the sounds of Rachel's steady heartbeat and her melodically distinguishable snores.

* * *

Renee hated mornings like this. She had hoped for a peaceful day at the office but she should have known better. It was Gotham City after all.

Still, one would expect to come into the office with her desk in the same state as it was left the night before. Instead, Detective Montoya was looking at a crime scene. Either that or a hurricane had hit the bullpen. Desks destroyed, office supplies thrown everywhere and was that a letter opener stuck in the wall?

To make matters worse, her favourite USB flash drive was missing. She snuck suspicious glances around the room. No misogynistic comments or laughing at her. Hello Kitty USB wasn't with any of those assholes then.

Heaving out a sigh of exasperation, Renee turned on her monitor. What a minute, why was her computer still on?

A Word document popped up on her screen and the detective's eyes narrowed.

**Sorry about the mess, a blonde thief felt like hitting up your computer drive for information.**

**My guess is it's about your Royal Flush Case. Tried to stop her but she made off with some files. Still open tho.**

**I will try to find her.**

**Watch your back though, fuckers probably bugged your shit.**

**A friend**

Renee groaned. That's just what she needed. A mysterious-vigilante type friend. Because that's working out so well for the now greying Gordon. The detective huffed as she leaned back in her chair, looking wistfully at the luscious brown locks that she took pride in. So long youth.

"Yo Boss! What the hell happened here?"

Most of the time, Cadet Puckerman was a pain in the ass to Renee and well everybody on the force; but he was still one of the most earnest and trustworthy guys there.

"Just a hurricane passing through Puckerman, can't you tell?" she drawled, "Looks like the Royal Flush Gang didn't like us snooping in on their work. The mess is just what happened when someone else tried to stop them."

"Someone else? Who the bat?"

"Nah, I don't think so. The vigilante left me a note that doesn't sound so Batman-esque."

Puck's eyes widened as he read the note. He could just hear Santana's voice in the words. "Let's take a break" his ass.

"You okay Puckerman?"

"Yeah I just, if these vigilantes keep showing up I'll be out of a job" he joked, laughing forcefully.

Renee barked out a good-natured chuckle in response and slapped the nervous cadet in the arm jovially. "Don't worry Puck, we're not gonna be thrown out to the gutter yet. They still need people to actually arrest these psychos and clean up after their mess."

Puck just nodded, too focussed on the disaster that he was sure that Santana had left behind to pay attention to anything else.

He was going to kill Santana for leaving him out of what looked like an epic fight night.

* * *

An early class was something that a lot of human students hated. But the early call didn't deter the Kryptonian teen from enjoying the feeling of normalcy she got from going to college and Quinn was in too much of a good mood to not share with Santana, the details of the long-awaited first date with the Magician's ASSistant. Practically skipping into the class she spotted her moody friend taking a nap, the people around her grateful that they are, at least momentarily, spared from Satan's wrath. Seeing Santana knocked out at their usual spot in the back of the lecture hall was not a rare sight and was usually the result of a) Santana getting her sweet lady kisses on the whole night, b) Santana being totally hungover or c) both.

So like any good best friend, Quinn had quickly learned that the best and most amusing way to greet her in such a state was with a bright and chipper: "Good morning Santana!"

The girl in question jumped slightly at the yell but only groaned in pain from the sudden movement. Whoever that was she battled with last night was good, evidence of that found in the leg-sized bruise in her side. The change in position also allowed her to feel the drool that was now seeping into her notebook and instead of facing the embarrassment of showing Quinn that evidence, she settled for opening one eye and flipping her the bird. "Fuck off."

Quinn began to snicker until she saw the growing bruises on Santana's face and arms. "Holy crap, Santana what did you do to yourself this time?"

Eyes widened in realization and Santana quickly sat up straight, trying to cover any of the bruises still visible. "Ugh can we not talk about this? It's nothing, just another bad night out."

"How about you stop avoiding and tell me what exactly is doing this to you? You look like somebody used you as a punching bag!" What kind of a superhero was she if she couldn't even save her best friend? Why was she being so stubborn?

"I like it ROUGH okay?" replied Santana in exasperation. She smirked when she saw a bunch of students redden and whisper to each other about the latest scandal. It didn't appear to impress Q though and she had pulled off a glare that almost scared Santana as much as Batman did. Not that she would EVER admit that out loud.

Quinn pulled her friend closer and whispered harshly, "That's  _not_  funny. I'm really worried about you. You're my best friend. Do you think I like seeing you so beat up every time I see you? What's going on?"

Thankfully Santana was saved by a text message from Puck. Unfortunately, it seemed that her other best friend was just as pissed.

_I knw u were at GCPD last night. We need 2 talk. n look at some kickass martial arts lessons cuz it looked like u got ur ass beat._

'Well, thanks for the vote of confidence Puckerman,' Santana thought darkly. She looked up to find Quinn still giving her the scary eyebrow glare/raise and gulped. What the hell was she supposed to say? As much as she wanted to tell Quinn, it would be dangerous. Quinn Fabray was just that innocent little baby lez that she took under her wing. Innocent and harmless. Santana would never want anything to happen to her.

"I told you I'm in fight club. I lost badly and Puckerman's going to force me to take like Krav Maga or some shit before I try for another fight… Not like I'm supposed to talk about it or something."

Quinn was getting frustrated. She was Supergirl for a reason. She could fly around the world in less time that it takes for people to blink. She could catch a bullet between her teeth (Okay she tried that once but it tasted like gun powder). Why was it in these moments as Quinn Fabray, she seemed powerless? Her best friend was in pain and she could do nothing more than poke and prod for half-truths and blatant lies. Thankfully, with her enhanced senses, she could easily pick up lies and it looked as though Santana really was going to look into martial arts lessons.

Clark warned her once that having a dual identity was difficult. There were some things only Quinn Fabray could do and some tasks that only Supergirl could perform. There would always be that pull between the two and the line is one drawn in sand. Maybe Supergirl couldn't save the best friend in distress. But maybe Quinn Fabray could do something instead.

"I know Krav Maga." It slipped out before the blonde super-heroine could think about it.

Santana's eyes narrowed in suspicion and disbelief, "Uh huh. Yeah. And I'm Fucking Wonder Woman."

"It was one of the… conditions that I had to fulfil before I moved to Gotham," That's it Quinn, half-truths make for good cover. "My guardians were paranoid and enrolled me into a bunch of martial arts classes. I could teach you if you want?"

The only thing Santana could do was laugh, which she did for several minutes until she realized her dearly deluded friend was serious. "The fuck? You're serious!"

"Of course I'm serious! You're not telling me anything and I can't do something about you constantly getting hurt. This is the only thing I could think of." Quinn was tired of letting her own 'humanity' get in the way of helping the people who matter most. She didn't care about cover stories or looking mild manner. This was Santana Lopez, badass motherfucker and the best friend anyone could ask for. She'd be damned if she let her get hurt without at least arming her with the right weapons.

"What just because you took a couple of Tae-bo, Karate shit. You think you can teach me to fight? Cuz I'm from Gotham Heights and I-"

"And you're still getting beat up like a punching bag." Quinn argued, making the tanned brunette pout at the stab to her ego, "I'm a damn good martial artist and I will make sure you survive your next fight relatively unscathed. Whether it's an insane fighting club or some pissed off butch. Please, just let me help you."

'Huh,' Santana thought in amazement, 'Innocent and harmless my gorgeous ass.'

"Fight club," was Santana's only answer, confusing the blonde, "You called it fighting club, you dweeb and the first rule is you don't talk about it."

The professor walked in, effectively shushing the students and Quinn smiled at her friend. "So…"

"So Puckerman is tight with the owner of that gym on Central, meet us there every Tuesday and Thursday?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

They sat and listened to the lecture for a few minutes before Santana started getting bored. Seeing that Quinn was completely focussed, she smirked in affection for her friend. Having someone like Quinn, who for all purposes didn't really know Santana at all, be so worried and caring was comforting. Imagining the girl as a ninja martial arts master was also very amusing. Still, the sudden change in dynamic between the two friends wasn't enough for the brunette to not have a little fun with the girl.

A tap on her shoulder distracted Quinn from the lecture and she looked to see Santana's writing on her own notebook

_So… did you bang the ASSistant yet? Her legs as magical as we thought? Give me the deets loser! Like does she moan when you-_

The little squeak of embarrassment that arose from the blonde was enough to make a few students look at her and Santana laughed soundlessly into her hand. Yeah she still got it. Looking down at her phone, she saw more angry texts from Puck and sighed.

One best friend down another one still unbelievably pissed.

For once, both Quinn and Santana were on the same wavelength.

'Why did I think having friends was a good idea?'

* * *

Rachel was practically bouncing into her classroom, Musical Theatre History (yeah who knew there's a class on that?). Her mysterious protector made sure to keep watch for most of the night and Rachel finally got some sleep without any magical induced nightmares. Quinn had also been sending her sweet text messages all morning and the brunette was falling for the girl with each ring alert of her phone. She didn't know why she had so much energy. The young magician knew she had to be careful though, with this much energy, she could turn somebody into an elephant by just batting an eye.

She was in such a good mood she managed to ignore the off-tune singing going on in the halls (which made some of the students scared because since when did Rachel Berry ever not criticize?). Unfortunately, the flight on cloud 9 was stopped once the other students filed in, all gossiping on the professor of the course, effectively bringing Rachel down to Planet Reality Sucks.

"Professor Mahoney was fired?" she yelled as she finally picked up on the scandal. What was she going to do? She needed this credit!

Mona, the girl who often lost out on roles to Rachel, sniffed and lifted her head high in knowing something that the brunette didn't, "Yeah apparently he had a nervous breakdown and now believes he's the incarnation of Barbra Streisand."

"But Barbra's still aliv-"

"Exactly." Mona cut in, "Which is why he now has a room at the loony house where he's free to roam and frolic while singing songs from Funny Girl."

Before Rachel could say that Mahoney was most likely butchering those timeless classics, a strange looking man strutted in the room. He was mostly bald and appeared to be slightly manic. A sweater was tied around his neck, which made some of the students snicker.

"Greetings you lot of ugly, untalented wannabes. I'm your new educator, Professor Sandy Ryerson. Professor Ryerson to you lot or if any of you boys wish to call me Sandy, that's fine. Whatever you think you know about the  _theatre_ is WRONG. And I am here to make sure you are properly learned in the magic of musical theatre…"

Rachel sat in morbid curiousity as she observed the new teacher lecture the class on the muscular figure of a certain actor from a "classic" musical theatre production and then got a volunteer to fondle- or compare the two. Honestly, Rachel was worried about the state of her grade in this class. Where did they find this guy?

Texting Quinn was a better use of her time, Rachel thought to herself as she pulled out her phone discreetly.

_**Hey Quinn! Are you in class?** _

The reply was almost instant.

_Yeah but I'm just trying to wake up my friend. She knocked out almost as soon as the prof. started his lecture. Now she won't get up._

_**Aww haha, good luck. Anyways somebody mention that they wanted to watch Funny Girl and/or Wizard of Oz with me on our next date…** _

_Wait somebody_ _**else** _ _asked you to do that on a date? How dare they! I asked first!_

At this point, Rachel was close to bursting out into love-struck giggles in the middle of the classroom. She barely stifled them and sent off a reply asking what day she's free.

_Well my Tuesdays and Thursdays nights are off limits now that my friend needs self-defence lessons. I've got to keep her from coming to school as a used up punching bag._

_**Oh my, you know self-defence?** _

Rachel could feel the temperature go up. Knowing self-defence? Definitely a turn-on.

_Not officially_

Before Rachel could give a response, another text came in from Quinn.

_Does it make you hot?_

_I bet it does._

_Can you imagine me fighting with another girl… sweaty and hot?_

Thankfully, the scandalized gasp came after reading the latest text was accompanied by Prof. Ryerson's dismissal and the outpouring of disgusted and wary students who would most likely drop the course by the end of the week. The poor boy that Ryerson fondled for most of the hour would mostly likely need therapy.

And for once Rachel Barbara Berry did not know how to reply to the calling out that Quinn had texted. Of course she was hot for Quinn. What about the perfect, wonderful and utterly beautiful Quinn Fabray would not be arouse-worthy? And now the imagery of a battle-worn Quinn was in her mind. Oh my, and wrestling with another girl. The cheery ringtone that indicated Quinn was calling, disrupted Rachel's downward spiral into perverted depths of her mind and she was thankful for the welcome distraction.

" _I'm SO sorry! My stupid friend hijacked my phone a-"_

Of course Quinn couldn't have sent those texts. It was totally out of character. Strangely, the fact that it wasn't Quinn sending them was a let down and Rachel decided it was time to pay her back.

"It's too bad Quinn, because your friend was right. Knowing that you've got a black belt in kicking ass? Kind of turns me on."

"…" The slightly choked gasping noise was the desired effect and that was exactly what Rachel got. The slightly sinister laugh in the background however was unexpected, as was the different voice that came through the phone.

" _Whatever you just did to Q was genius, Berry. I think you and I will be very good friends if you keep this up. Oh and if the celibacy queen here isn't enough for you I can show you a whole ne-"_

" _SANTANA!"_

Rachel chuckled at the antics of the two girls on the other line. It must be nice to have friends her own age. She guessed that being in a school environment where everybody wasn't just waiting for the chance to stab someone else in the back for a role would make it easier to make friends. Not that the ambitious, career-driven attitude helped her in high school. And while she had "friends" (semester rivals would be a more apt description), it hadn't been easy finding someone like Santana was to Quinn. Someone she could joke around and be completely open to. A normal friendship.

Of course, being a magical apprentice to the great Zatanna would limit the normalcy one could have.

" _GIVE ME BACK THE PHONE SANTANA!"_

There was a lot of clattering on the other end of the phone and it sounded to Rachel like a chase was under way.

" _Hey Berry!"_

Ah, Santana won the struggle, but Quinn's protests were getting louder.

"Hello Santana. It's nice to finally put a voice to the infamous best friend."

" _She better not have said shit about me being a bitch. I mean I totally am but it's something that should be experienced in person. You know what? Come hang out with us at the gym on Tuesday! You'll get to see me beat up your girl! Then you could play nurse to her- HEY! I wasn't do-"_

" _Rachel?"_

"I take it that your friend is now awake?" Rachel asked amusedly, happy to be talking with Quinn again.

" _Yeah… she didn't really like the fact that I told her they just opened a Breadstix Express in the student lounge to wake her up."_

Laughter threatened to bubble up once more when Rachel heard a faint  _"THAT SHIT AIN'T COOL FABRAY! Nobody lies abouts Breadstix! It's like in the Ten Commandments!"_ in the background.

"Your friend sounds like fun. I'd love to see you guys train." She'd love to have any excuse to see Quinn, to be honest. Sweaty or not sweaty.

" _Yeah fun... Just about as fun as sticking your hands in a shredder. But you're more than welcome to see me teach her a thing or two. Maybe afterwards we can watch Funny Girl? NO SANTANA, THAT'S NOT CODE FOR GETTING OUR MACK ON."_

Rachel smiled, thoroughly entertained by the duo's "Sounds like a date! See you then! Bye Quinn!"

" _Bye Rach! STOP ASKING FOR A THREES-"_

The Quinn-filled haze had returned in full force, sending the girl straight back up to Cloud Nine. Scratch that, she was on Star Nine. She had another date with Quinn! And she was going to meet Quinn's best friend. What would be the appropriate attire for such an affair? Should she give a gift to this Santana as well? Rachel was lucky that that was her only class, as she would have to hurry home and plan. Maybe break out the old PowerPoint presentation. With the familiar determined focus that often parted the halls of GAPA, she began her trip back to her place.

Her metaphorical flight into the love-stricken atmosphere had blocked Rachel from noticing the handsome new student eyeing her from a far. Many of the girls on campus were already whispering about the leading man potential in the new guy. Charming, talented and devilishly good-looking. Jesse St. James smiled at his new environment. It would be so easy to manipulate these poor saps that were so much less talented than he. Still Rachel Berry seemed to not notice him, which was worrisome.

Who didn't notice him?

But Gaia told him to go slow. Patience. And he would not fail his mistress.

* * *

" _So are you ever going to tell me why I'm looking up the address of Renee Montoya and her younger cousin so that you can break into their place, Dick?"_

The comm link was often a blessing for the Bat team but sometimes Nightwing wished he didn't have his ex-girlfriend questioning his every move in his head.

"Well Babs, I was just waiting for you to ask," he replied sarcastically, not getting anything from her end, he decided to just tell her, "I'm leaving a little something for our budding Bat-heroine."

" _Montoya's joining the team?"_

"No, her cousin."

" _Santana Lopez? Isn't that girl wh-"_

"Yeah, her parents were killed in a drive-by shooting after they shared a family dinner out. She was eighteen and her father was one of Thomas Wayne's brightest colleagues. Bruce is trying to discourage her from joining the crusade."

" _Working out well?"_ Oracle bit out with more than a bit of sarcasm.

He smirked at the memories of Batgirl and her first few meetings with the original Dynamic Duo. "Just about as well as it did with you."

" _Hence the..."_  He could hear the amusement in Barbara's tone. Amusement and nostalgia. She wasn't Batgirl anymore. It was a blow worse than any bullet.

"Hence the gift. Bruce is testing her. I'm just giving her a little learning aid to catch up with the rest of the class."

" _You think she has what it takes?"_ She asked sceptically. It was expected of course. Not just anyone could fill the vigilante boots.

"Hey she was your age when you started out."

" _That wasn't what I asked Dick."_

"Would I be helping her out if I didn't see it?" He bit back.

Oracle sighed in resignation. Understandable. Nobody in the business wanted another innocent involved. But Barbara had wanted to be in the business for herself. It was a job for her. For people like Bruce, Dick and now Santana, it was more than just a job. It was a ghost that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. They needed to do this.

" _No, of course not. So definite potential?"_

"Enough potential that it would be too dangerous not helping her."

" _Oh."_

It was silent for a few moments as Nightwing continued to cross the city by skyline.

" _You're going to bug the gift aren't you?"_

* * *

**Witches' Order of Cane Caverns…**

Orpheus stared at the photo of his lost love at his bedside. He could still remember her bright eyes and adoring smile. The way she would say his name with so much love.

But she was gone now. And all that was left was guilt.

The guilt would never go away. And it should never leave him.

It was all his fault. If he didn't drag her into this mess… She wouldn't be dead. And he wouldn't have sold his soul to the devil. Magic cults, evil cabals. This wasn't what he wanted. He never wanted that.

He had just wanted Emma back.

"Will? You should really get some sleep. We've got a long day tomorrow. I mean you've got to arrange that meeting with Ra's and then there's the magicks arms deal with the London branch. Not to mention Klarion the whiny little bitch boy who only wants to deal with Gaia and her stupid potions. Honestly, I don't know how I can deal with all that."

'That's because you don't. It's either me or Gaia.' Will thought darkly. He never would have thought that his ex-wife would have this much control over him after the divorce. But one never can get a divorce with an evil witch without some sort of pay back. He just wished Emma wasn't the one who paid.

But patience was key. That was what Shelby constantly told him. She would know. She waited over twenty years for the Power to arise. They just needed to keep it safe from the Witches' Cult. Siphoning enough power would free both him and Shelby.

"Since you're still awake Will, we might as well take advantage of the time given."

Patience, Orpheus. Patience.

"Whatever you desire, Mistress Persephone." He gathered his strength and turned over to face the woman he used to love.

"Will… No silly codenames in bed."

"… Yes Terri."

**TO BE CONTINUED IN: ISSUE #7**

**WORK IN PROGRESS**

**  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Puck threatens Santana? Rachel meets Santana. Rachel meets Jesse. Quinn has trouble with excuses goes to someone with experience for advice. And what exactly did Nightwing leave for the Razor-whatever her name is? Stay tuned.
> 
> Please read and review! If you guys have any ideas for glee characters in this DC universe let me know! Until next time dear readers.


	10. Set In Motion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: sorry this hasn't been updated yet. If you folks here are impatient check out the other chapters on FF.net  
> \- Until next time Cheers!

Issue #6

Set In Motion

" _Well it's a good thing I'mma bring the hurt to_ _ **you!**_ _"_

Santana grimaced as she broke into a head long run towards her agile opponent. Gotham Heights Adjacent learned her enough to talk trash but her injuries from the night before would not help her back up her threats. Still, the stubborn ego-bruised heroine was not about to let this bitch get away without trying. The way that the other girl seemed to shy away from violence could be an advantage.

Santana just needed a plan.

Puck's encouraging words from earlier in the day rang in her head and strangely so did Coach Sylvester's demoralizing shrills back from her Cheerio days.

" _You think this is hard? Batman had his back broken by a skinny ass kid doped up on roids! THAT'S HARD!"_

Okay, so Coach Sue never used that particular example but it was true nonetheless.

The Batman was broken in front of Gotham City and he still managed to beat Bane in the end. And although Santana's own badass alter ego name was in the works, she could get over a nearly fractured arm while fighting a thief and become a legend in her own right. Right?

The masked thief let out a relenting sigh but curled her fists and dropped into her own fighting stance. Impossibly long legs crouched down and Santana relied on instincts to guide her away from the inevitable leg sweep. The teen hero pulled a basic Cheerio one-handed back spring to narrowly avoid the thief's legs of mass destruction. Santana's landing took a tumble but she had the advantage for a brief moment.

" _SLOPPY LOPEZ! This isn't a competition against an army of cripples! This is the real deal! No wonder Bats thinks you can't make it in the biz. That's what we call it by the way."_

Instincts weren't going to cut it alone, Santana realized as her own mind was chastising her movements with clear Sylvester acidity. The tidal wave of a leg sweep would have taken her down and forced her to land on her bad arm. It would appear that her opponent was also quick on Santana's weak arm. The brunette took a deep breath and analyzed the situation. Long legs equals' trouble getting in close. Getting in close meant that Santana was one arm down in a fistfight.

Shit was screwed sideways from both directions.

But the last few days made her realize something.

Since when did Santana Fucking Lopez let herself get screwed from both directions without it being on her own terms?

And since when could she not have fun doing it?

A sharp and shiny letter opener caught her eye and the mad dash to get to it confused the heavily masked thief. That's it Santana, keep them guessing. Keep your distance. Keep your target in sight.

Less than nimble tumbles and dives would have gotten the former head Cheerio at the bottom of the pyramid but in her current predicament, they got Santana a multitude of MacGyver-like ammunition to let loose on the unsuspecting criminal.

"Ah!" a girlish squeal came out garbled under the voice-changer's cover. Santana's aim and swiftness proved too much for the young thief and the initial letter opener had even drawn blood.

Before Santana could deliver the final blow, a heavy paperweight to the head, Renee's computer emitted a sound that distracted both girls. The thief dashed towards the screen and retrieved her USB flash drive.

She looked in Santana's direction and gave a playful wave, "The computer says I'm done now and I have to go, but it was nice dancing with you!"

The thief seemed to almost skip down the hall and Santana had to blink in wonder before she snapped out of it. "Aww hell naw!"

She quickly barrelled after the thief but she was stopped in her tracks when the other girl abruptly stopped to face her. Both fighters were slightly out of breath from their skirmish but Santana would be damned if she gave up now.

Brittany sighed in resignation. She really didn't want to hurt anybody but this girl was stubborn like that piece of gum you accidentally sit on. Her lips quirked at the metaphor that appeared in her mind; in any other situation, she definitely wouldn't mind the thought of having a girl like her opponent stuck on her. Unfortunately time was of the essence and King waited for nobody, not even his own daughter.

She winced as the masked vigilante's fist connected hard with her shoulder. Brittany had moved just in time to avoid getting punched in the head. It was time to end this. She backed away from her opponent crouching slightly and nodded her head when the girl took her bait by sprinting towards her exactly like she had before.

Brittany waited for the girl to flip over her head before suddenly standing up bringing up her right leg straight up to kick her in the side.

"Ugh!" the poor girl grunted as the force of the kick sent her reeling into the wall behind Brittany.

The blonde winced at the person-sized dent in the wall and watched in amazement as the masked girl tried to get up again. Tried, being the apt word.

"You think I'm done bitch? You'z be in for a lotta hurt when I ca- once I-" Santana's whimpered in pain and stiffened when the thief put her hands on her shoulders.

"Please, let's stop the violence... Please." The blonde whispered gently. The tone in her voice belayed her concern for Santana and befuddled the injured heroine. Before she could blink, the thief was gone, leaving Santana with only one question on her mind.

Who was that girl?

* * *

Rachel was settling in for the night with the same goofy grin she'd worn for the better part of the day. How lucky was she to meet such a perfect girl? How in the world could said perfect girl even be remotely interested in one Rachel Berry? Was it possible to have such an intense connection with someone she had just met?

She didn't have any answers and was content enough to leave them be. Whatever happened between her and Quinn, she knew somehow that the enigmatic and mysterious blonde would become a permanent fixture in Rachel's life from now on.

A gust of wind coming in from the open window in Rachel's room shook her out of her daze and she was once again reminded that she would be alone for the night. The halls of her partly shared apartment seemed even more dark and empty than they had before. She smiled faintly as she realized that thinking of Quinn, being with Quinn, and thinking of being with Quinn was much like floating on top of the clouds and soaking in the sun. The reality of touching back down on the ground was more like a sixty-foot drop. Rachel would have never admitted it to Zatanna but her blackout from the night before was terrifying. The nightmares were terrifying.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Rachel stared intently at her own palms. With one incantation and a flick of the wrist, she could make an audience light up with childish delight and wonder, or she could take somebody's arm off. Zatanna was never the one to dwell on the sheer power they both had but then again she grew up knowing exactly what she could do. Rachel had known about her powers for just over a year.

They were still exciting and new… but mostly still very scary.

Perhaps that was part of why Rachel liked Quinn so much. The poor girl was somehow just as wary of the power of magicks as Rachel was and yet she returned for every magic show for two weeks just to see her.

And there she was, thinking of Quinn yet again. Once more her worries vanished from her mind like a magick trick in Zatanna's show. The one with the bunnies that Z assured were never harmed.

Sitting by the vanity as she hummed the intro to "As Long As You're Mine," the infamous goofy grin crept its way back onto Rachel's face. She brushed her hair, careful to take as much time brushing her hair as it would to finish singing the song to herself.

Another gust of wind blew into the room but Rachel paid no mind to the comforting chill.

It was strange though, Rachel noted, each time a gust of wind reached her room she could have sworn she saw a blur of red and blue.

The same red and blue blur that often saved her from the darkness in her dreams.

* * *

Supergirl wasn't stalking the girl she liked.

Nope, that wasn't it at all.

The super-heroine was merely doing her duty as a… well, as a super-heroine. Zatanna specifically asked her to look after Rachel Berry, magician-in-training and this was exactly what she was going to do, professionally.

She wasn't using her special vision to stare at Rachel's hair as she brushed it while looking wistfully in the mirror, Quinn was merely checking in on her physical health from a visual standpoint. Visual proof that she was okay, that was it.

And when Supergirl utilized her enhanced hearing abilities to listen in on Rachel, it wasn't so she could hear glimpses of the tiny brunette sing to herself as she got ready for bed. No, it was so that Quinn could hear Rachel should her heart rate spike in fear or terror, or if she screamed from being attacked.

Yes that was exactly why she was perched on a rooftop with Rachel in her line of super-sight and hearing.

That wasn't stalking, was it?

The sounds of police sirens in the distance, eighteen blocks away to be precise, caught the Kryptonian powerhouse's attention and she sighed at the thought of leaving Rachel, someone who was becoming more and more precious to her with each passing moment

Gunshots rang out in her super-hearing ears and the Kryptonian zoomed in to check on Rachel one last time before speeding away to swiftly put a stop to an armed robbery attempt. As soon as she finished, that damned hearing of hers picked up a piercing scream near the Gotham Harbour Front.

Quinn huffed and flew back to see Rachel before saving a woman from swimming with the fishes.

It continued to go on for the next couple of hours. She'd finish with a heroic save and another would pop up on the other side of the city. Any other night. It had to be this one.

Sadly as much as Supergirl wished she could keep watch over her girl until Zatanna came back, she was still a superhero and the citizens of Gotham Ci-

" _CODE RED! WE NEED SOME BACK-UP ASAP! Where the hell is Superman?"_

… Correction: the citizens of Gotham City  _and_  Metropolis still needed Supergirl.

* * *

Santana took only a couple of moments stunned on the ground before she realized that she just destroyed the office desks of several police officers and she was still in the building.

'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.'

Making a scramble back to her cousin's computer she went stock still at the sight of the lit up computer screen. The case Renee was investigating was still open with all files connected to it. Santana glanced at the office across the room, Commissioner Gordon's office and sighed contemplatively.

She would only have time to retrieve information from one GCPD employee.

A noise from outside in the hall snapped Santana out of her thoughts and she sprung into action. Batman was lucky that familia came first. Somebody had to look out for Detective Montoya and as much as she trusted Puck, there was only so much he could do in the office. Spotting one of Renee's embarrassing Hello Kitty USB drives (one that she had often teases her older cousin about), she made quick work of copying the same files that the thief took. Luckily for Santana, the blonde girl was sloppy and left the files highlighted.

The rays of a flashlight peeked through the closed doors and Santana knew her time was limited.

Fuck.

Life was  _ **way**_  too short to wait for these fucking USB things to be finished.

Typing a quick note to Renee before turning off the monitor, the budding vigilante rushed towards the back exit that the blonde girl had slipped out of earlier. She could feel the bruises begin to form around her body and winced at the thought of tomorrow's aches and pains.

Shit, she had class the next day. Santana groaned at the mere thought of her early lecture and made her way back to her carefully hidden car.

Q better be there taking notes, Santana grumbled to herself, cause the only thing her notebook would be used for the next day was as a pillow.

* * *

It was close to three in the morning before she was finished with disasters in Gotham, Metropolis, Kenya, Kyoto and Rome. Quinn heaved a sigh more out of the relieving thought of being finished for the night rather than actual exhaustion. It was shortly after her initial arrival on Earth, that she had found that on a sunny day, her Kryptonian battery power would provide her with enough energy to last her a good forty-eight hours straight without sleeping. Bruce wanted to push her further with the intent of making her superhero shifts longer and more productive but both Clark and Diana vetoed the idea.

Her cousin and Amazonian mentor both believed that she needed to at least try to live a normal human life for part of the time. And this was how she was going to spend it. Keeping an eye on (NOTE: NOT STALKING) Rachel Barbra Berry. Her enhanced gaze focused on the petite brunette curled up in the large bed and Quinn just barely fought off the rather hormonal instinct to join her.

As Kara on Krypton, she had never felt such a pull towards another person. Never had she wanted to be with someone twenty-four hours a day and now she was borderline STALKING this  _human_ girl. The statement struck Quinn's mind suddenly, faster than a speeding bullet.

_**Human girl.** _

_**Human.** _

Something that Supergirl was definitely not. Not when she struggled everyday to use the most minimal amount of strength, so she wouldn't crumble a door handle or break somebody's hand.

In Quinn's state of deep thought, she didn't notice that she was hovering closer to the open windowsill. If she had focused her super-hearing, the Kryptonian would have noticed a not so steady and sleeping heartbeat in the room.

_**Human.** _

While on Earth, she had often heard the phrase "It's okay to make mistakes. It's only human."

But she wasn't human.

She wasn't a normal girl. She was Supergirl of Krypton.

And more often than not, she couldn't afford to "make mistakes" as a human. They had disastrous effects on the world.

_**Human.** _

What did that even mean?

To be human.

To become one of them. Pretend to be one of them.

To live among them but never truly belong.

Was she pretending? How much of it was pretend? Not a lot, surely. Would Rachel forgive Quinn if she knew? Would Rachel even  _want_  to be with an alien?

Would she even be able to look at Quinn the same way again?

Quinn gasped and clutched her heart. A pain worse than a thousand pieces of Kryptonite had seized it.

But she wasn't any different; she tried to tell herself, still hovering closer to Rachel's room. She didn't feel things differently on Earth than she did on Krypton. She had felt happy, and sad, and she had made mistakes on both planets. So why was it important to define herself as human?

Maybe xenophobia wasn't just a Kryptonian thing?

Krypton's entire population wouldn't have been considered "human" but why? The emotions felt were no different on either planet.

Her father was inexplicably and surprisingly deeply in love with her mother. As stubborn and unrelenting and so structurally traditional as the woman was; Zor-El loved Alura with everything he had. Anything he had left was devoted to Kara. He was so passionate, where her mother was unfeeling and when he talked about the love he felt, Kara could only listen with rapt attention. It was part of the reason why Finn-Ek didn't last long with the courting.

Try as she might, Kara never felt the heat of a thousand stars when he smiled nor did she felt as though her whole body was encased, frozen in crystal whenever Finn was near.

But those were examples that described what she felt every time she was with Rachel.

Quinn smiled sadly at the thought, if only her father were here now, she could use some of his sappy poetry or ever-encouraging advice. She shook her head as if to shake her earlier human crisis. Thinking of Zor-El made things clearer.

Her father's beautiful words transcended all things Kryptonian, human; whatever it meant to feel and reached out to Quinn to secure her in the knowledge that she was definitely falling in love with Rachel Berry.

Species, race, gender: what did it matter? The emotions felt were genuine and pure and-

"I know you're out there."

Quinn had faced Darkseid, evil New God from another dimension. She had trained on an island filled with scary badass Amazonian warriors and came out as one of them. She had battled countless monsters, psychopaths and even her own cousin, Superman. But none of those experiences compared to the almost literal heart attack she just suffered at Rachel's gentle voice piercing the quiet night, scaring her out of the deep philosophical recesses of her own mind.

She covered her mouth quickly when she realized a shrill squeal had emitted from it. Quinn's eyes narrowed at the bundle of blankets in the room. Rachel hadn't turned around.

Shouldn't she be asleep? As if reading the Kryptonian's mind, Rachel started talking.

"I know I should be asleep but I just wanted to make sure you were real. It was just a feeling you know? A special… presence I could sense. Magick, I guess. At first I thought you were a stalker, which would have been quite flattering considering the fact that I haven't even debuted as a Broadway star yet but-" Rachel paused abruptly and the girl floating outside the windowsill huffed. NOT STALKING. But still Quinn kept quiet, not yet brave enough to talk to the girl of her dreams as Supergirl. "-But that's not the point. The point is I know you've been keeping watch over me this whole night. Thank you."

It was official, Rachel Berry was insane.

Quinn was floored but strangely relieved. Accepting and thanking a would-be stalker (but NOT a stalker), meant that Rachel could be more receptive to other things as well. Like dating an alien from a dead planet who was stuck in suspended animation for over twenty-five years? Maybe.

"It's kind of strange thanking somebody who can vanish in thin air. A red and blue blur. But I feel safe when you're around. I actually woke up because I could tell that you weren't there for a minute. Since this whole thing started, the only times I've felt safer were when I was with Qu- a friend." Rachel continued to ramble but Quinn just waited patiently, too intrigued with the girl's speech to interrupt. "Maybe Zatanna summoned you to protect me while she's gone. Promise you won't tell her, but those nightmares, the blackout, they scared me out of my mind. The only thing that kept me going today was my time with that  _friend_. The nightmares reminded me a little of when I first got my powers. That loss of control. When something as simple as a cry or a hand gesture could totally destroy a room… or a person."

She shivered and Quinn ached to comfort the trembling girl but she willed her body to stop. She wasn't Quinn Fabray, human hopeful to court Rachel Berry; she was Kara Zor-El, Supergirl. She could only listen right now.

"Magick still scares me. I think it always will. But it doesn't scare Zatanna. I have to be strong like her. Or else the scary parts of myself would hurt people. I can sense it."

It was easy to forgot, between the entrancing first meeting, dancing under a spotlight and going on a normal date, that Rachel was just as "Super" as Supergirl, just in different ways. Quinn finally found somebody who could understand exactly what she was feeling, who could empathize without patronizing. If only Quinn could tell her.

"You make it better, like Qu- somebody else I know. It always feels like sunshine. Like a burst of sunshine whenever she's near." Rachel's giggle surprised the teen hero. Why was she laughing all of a sudden? "It's like I've got sunshine on a cloudy day. When it's cold outsiiiddde, I've got the month of May."

Full-blown chuckles filled the room and Quinn tried to figure out what was so funny. And also why Rachel suddenly burst out into song.

The laughter subsided and being one to never sit in silence for long, Rachel continued talking to her silent and invisible protector, "Sorry, that's one of my "Get Happy" songs. If my life were a musical, and it will become one someday, a happy song like "My Girl" would be on the set list. You just can't help but smile and the world could always use more smiles in it." the brunette stopped and yawned loudly, "Anyways, I'd like to thank you again for keeping such a vigilante watch over me. And thank you for listening, I tend to ramble on and a lot of people are often put off by how much I can talk, so if it ever becomes too much just tell me. That is if you can talk."

It was silent for a few moments and Quinn started to think that the girl had fallen asleep but her voice broke out once more, unusually subdued this time, "Do you think you could come again tomorrow? The dark isn't so scary when I know you're here and I can't really ask Q- my friend because everything with her is still so new. I just don't want to scare her off with this stuff. So please?"

There it was; the same vulnerability that Quinn saw when Rachel had asked her out the other night. Now she knew why it struck her so much the first time. It was the same vulnerability that Kara Zor-El felt when she awoke from her suspended state. The vulnerability that stemmed from being totally unprepared for the supernatural responsibilities that they were shouldered with. Vulnerability that was also founded on loneliness; because even though they had awe-inspiring mentors and guides to help them with their powers, they would always be in their shadows. No one else knew how heavy that was.

Soft snores filled the room and Quinn smiled adoringly at the exhausted brunette who had just bared her soul to a stalking red and blue blur. Thinking on it, Quinn should talk to her new… friend about who she should talk to about this stuff. She really could have just been a stalking pervert after all.

She longed to be able to tell the girl that she understood. That she wasn't alone. But it could wait. They would get there eventually; it was just going to take a little work.

Nothing could wipe the hopeful grin on Quinn's face as she zoomed back to her own apartment. While she still had some energy left, the Kryptonian still managed to be lulled to sleep by the sounds of Rachel's steady heartbeat and her melodically distinguishable snores.

* * *

Renee hated mornings like this. She had hoped for a peaceful day at the office but she should have known better. It was Gotham City after all.

Still, one would expect to come into the office with her desk in the same state as it was left the night before. Instead, Detective Montoya was looking at a crime scene. Either that or a hurricane had hit the bullpen. Desks destroyed, office supplies thrown everywhere and was that a letter opener stuck in the wall?

To make matters worse, her favourite USB flash drive was missing. She snuck suspicious glances around the room. No misogynistic comments or laughing at her. Hello Kitty USB wasn't with any of those assholes then.

Heaving out a sigh of exasperation, Renee turned on her monitor. What a minute, why was her computer still on?

A Word document popped up on her screen and the detective's eyes narrowed.

**Sorry about the mess, a blonde thief felt like hitting up your computer drive for information.**

**My guess is it's about your Royal Flush Case. Tried to stop her but she made off with some files. Still open tho.**

**I will try to find her.**

**Watch your back though, fuckers probably bugged your shit.**

**A friend**

Renee groaned. That's just what she needed. A mysterious-vigilante type friend. Because that's working out so well for the now greying Gordon. The detective huffed as she leaned back in her chair, looking wistfully at the luscious brown locks that she took pride in. So long youth.

"Yo Boss! What the hell happened here?"

Most of the time, Cadet Puckerman was a pain in the ass to Renee and well everybody on the force; but he was still one of the most earnest and trustworthy guys there.

"Just a hurricane passing through Puckerman, can't you tell?" she drawled, "Looks like the Royal Flush Gang didn't like us snooping in on their work. The mess is just what happened when someone else tried to stop them."

"Someone else? Who the bat?"

"Nah, I don't think so. The vigilante left me a note that doesn't sound so Batman-esque."

Puck's eyes widened as he read the note. He could just hear Santana's voice in the words. "Let's take a break" his ass.

"You okay Puckerman?"

"Yeah I just, if these vigilantes keep showing up I'll be out of a job" he joked, laughing forcefully.

Renee barked out a good-natured chuckle in response and slapped the nervous cadet in the arm jovially. "Don't worry Puck, we're not gonna be thrown out to the gutter yet. They still need people to actually arrest these psychos and clean up after their mess."

Puck just nodded, too focussed on the disaster that he was sure that Santana had left behind to pay attention to anything else.

He was going to kill Santana for leaving him out of what looked like an epic fight night.

* * *

An early class was something that a lot of human students hated. But the early call didn't deter the Kryptonian teen from enjoying the feeling of normalcy she got from going to college and Quinn was in too much of a good mood to not share with Santana, the details of the long-awaited first date with the Magician's ASSistant. Practically skipping into the class she spotted her moody friend taking a nap, the people around her grateful that they are, at least momentarily, spared from Satan's wrath. Seeing Santana knocked out at their usual spot in the back of the lecture hall was not a rare sight and was usually the result of a) Santana getting her sweet lady kisses on the whole night, b) Santana being totally hungover or c) both.

So like any good best friend, Quinn had quickly learned that the best and most amusing way to greet her in such a state was with a bright and chipper: "Good morning Santana!"

The girl in question jumped slightly at the yell but only groaned in pain from the sudden movement. Whoever that was she battled with last night was good, evidence of that found in the leg-sized bruise in her side. The change in position also allowed her to feel the drool that was now seeping into her notebook and instead of facing the embarrassment of showing Quinn that evidence, she settled for opening one eye and flipping her the bird. "Fuck off."

Quinn began to snicker until she saw the growing bruises on Santana's face and arms. "Holy crap, Santana what did you do to yourself this time?"

Eyes widened in realization and Santana quickly sat up straight, trying to cover any of the bruises still visible. "Ugh can we not talk about this? It's nothing, just another bad night out."

"How about you stop avoiding and tell me what exactly is doing this to you? You look like somebody used you as a punching bag!" What kind of a superhero was she if she couldn't even save her best friend? Why was she being so stubborn?

"I like it ROUGH okay?" replied Santana in exasperation. She smirked when she saw a bunch of students redden and whisper to each other about the latest scandal. It didn't appear to impress Q though and she had pulled off a glare that almost scared Santana as much as Batman did. Not that she would EVER admit that out loud.

Quinn pulled her friend closer and whispered harshly, "That's  _not_  funny. I'm really worried about you. You're my best friend. Do you think I like seeing you so beat up every time I see you? What's going on?"

Thankfully Santana was saved by a text message from Puck. Unfortunately, it seemed that her other best friend was just as pissed.

_I knw u were at GCPD last night. We need 2 talk. n look at some kickass martial arts lessons cuz it looked like u got ur ass beat._

'Well, thanks for the vote of confidence Puckerman,' Santana thought darkly. She looked up to find Quinn still giving her the scary eyebrow glare/raise and gulped. What the hell was she supposed to say? As much as she wanted to tell Quinn, it would be dangerous. Quinn Fabray was just that innocent little baby lez that she took under her wing. Innocent and harmless. Santana would never want anything to happen to her.

"I told you I'm in fight club. I lost badly and Puckerman's going to force me to take like Krav Maga or some shit before I try for another fight… Not like I'm supposed to talk about it or something."

Quinn was getting frustrated. She was Supergirl for a reason. She could fly around the world in less time that it takes for people to blink. She could catch a bullet between her teeth (Okay she tried that once but it tasted like gun powder). Why was it in these moments as Quinn Fabray, she seemed powerless? Her best friend was in pain and she could do nothing more than poke and prod for half-truths and blatant lies. Thankfully, with her enhanced senses, she could easily pick up lies and it looked as though Santana really was going to look into martial arts lessons.

Clark warned her once that having a dual identity was difficult. There were some things only Quinn Fabray could do and some tasks that only Supergirl could perform. There would always be that pull between the two and the line is one drawn in sand. Maybe Supergirl couldn't save the best friend in distress. But maybe Quinn Fabray could do something instead.

"I know Krav Maga." It slipped out before the blonde super-heroine could think about it.

Santana's eyes narrowed in suspicion and disbelief, "Uh huh. Yeah. And I'm Fucking Wonder Woman."

"It was one of the… conditions that I had to fulfil before I moved to Gotham," That's it Quinn, half-truths make for good cover. "My guardians were paranoid and enrolled me into a bunch of martial arts classes. I could teach you if you want?"

The only thing Santana could do was laugh, which she did for several minutes until she realized her dearly deluded friend was serious. "The fuck? You're serious!"

"Of course I'm serious! You're not telling me anything and I can't do something about you constantly getting hurt. This is the only thing I could think of." Quinn was tired of letting her own 'humanity' get in the way of helping the people who matter most. She didn't care about cover stories or looking mild manner. This was Santana Lopez, badass motherfucker and the best friend anyone could ask for. She'd be damned if she let her get hurt without at least arming her with the right weapons.

"What just because you took a couple of Tae-bo, Karate shit. You think you can teach me to fight? Cuz I'm from Gotham Heights and I-"

"And you're still getting beat up like a punching bag." Quinn argued, making the tanned brunette pout at the stab to her ego, "I'm a damn good martial artist and I will make sure you survive your next fight relatively unscathed. Whether it's an insane fighting club or some pissed off butch. Please, just let me help you."

'Huh,' Santana thought in amazement, 'Innocent and harmless my gorgeous ass.'

"Fight club," was Santana's only answer, confusing the blonde, "You called it fighting club, you dweeb and the first rule is you don't talk about it."

The professor walked in, effectively shushing the students and Quinn smiled at her friend. "So…"

"So Puckerman is tight with the owner of that gym on Central, meet us there every Tuesday and Thursday?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

They sat and listened to the lecture for a few minutes before Santana started getting bored. Seeing that Quinn was completely focussed, she smirked in affection for her friend. Having someone like Quinn, who for all purposes didn't really know Santana at all, be so worried and caring was comforting. Imagining the girl as a ninja martial arts master was also very amusing. Still, the sudden change in dynamic between the two friends wasn't enough for the brunette to not have a little fun with the girl.

A tap on her shoulder distracted Quinn from the lecture and she looked to see Santana's writing on her own notebook

_So… did you bang the ASSistant yet? Her legs as magical as we thought? Give me the deets loser! Like does she moan when you-_

The little squeak of embarrassment that arose from the blonde was enough to make a few students look at her and Santana laughed soundlessly into her hand. Yeah she still got it. Looking down at her phone, she saw more angry texts from Puck and sighed.

One best friend down another one still unbelievably pissed.

For once, both Quinn and Santana were on the same wavelength.

'Why did I think having friends was a good idea?'

* * *

Rachel was practically bouncing into her classroom, Musical Theatre History (yeah who knew there's a class on that?). Her mysterious protector made sure to keep watch for most of the night and Rachel finally got some sleep without any magical induced nightmares. Quinn had also been sending her sweet text messages all morning and the brunette was falling for the girl with each ring alert of her phone. She didn't know why she had so much energy. The young magician knew she had to be careful though, with this much energy, she could turn somebody into an elephant by just batting an eye.

She was in such a good mood she managed to ignore the off-tune singing going on in the halls (which made some of the students scared because since when did Rachel Berry ever not criticize?). Unfortunately, the flight on cloud 9 was stopped once the other students filed in, all gossiping on the professor of the course, effectively bringing Rachel down to Planet Reality Sucks.

"Professor Mahoney was fired?" she yelled as she finally picked up on the scandal. What was she going to do? She needed this credit!

Mona, the girl who often lost out on roles to Rachel, sniffed and lifted her head high in knowing something that the brunette didn't, "Yeah apparently he had a nervous breakdown and now believes he's the incarnation of Barbra Streisand."

"But Barbra's still aliv-"

"Exactly." Mona cut in, "Which is why he now has a room at the loony house where he's free to roam and frolic while singing songs from Funny Girl."

Before Rachel could say that Mahoney was most likely butchering those timeless classics, a strange looking man strutted in the room. He was mostly bald and appeared to be slightly manic. A sweater was tied around his neck, which made some of the students snicker.

"Greetings you lot of ugly, untalented wannabes. I'm your new educator, Professor Sandy Ryerson. Professor Ryerson to you lot or if any of you boys wish to call me Sandy, that's fine. Whatever you think you know about the  _theatre_ is WRONG. And I am here to make sure you are properly learned in the magic of musical theatre…"

Rachel sat in morbid curiousity as she observed the new teacher lecture the class on the muscular figure of a certain actor from a "classic" musical theatre production and then got a volunteer to fondle- or compare the two. Honestly, Rachel was worried about the state of her grade in this class. Where did they find this guy?

Texting Quinn was a better use of her time, Rachel thought to herself as she pulled out her phone discreetly.

**From Rachel _:_ Hey Quinn! Are you in class?**

The reply was almost instant.

_**From Quinn : Yeah but I'm just trying to wake up my friend. She knocked out almost as soon as the prof. started his lecture. Now she won't get up.** _

_**_** From Rachel: ** _ ** _ **Aww haha, good luck. Anyways somebody mention that they wanted to watch Funny Girl and/or Wizard of Oz with me on our next date…**

_**_** From Quinn :  ** _ ** _ **_Wait somebody_ _else  _ _asked you to do that on a date? How dare they! I asked first!_ **

At this point, Rachel was close to bursting out into love-struck giggles in the middle of the classroom. She barely stifled them and sent off a reply asking what day she's free.

_**_** From Quinn :  ** _ ** _ _**Well my Tuesdays and Thursdays nights are off limits now that my friend needs self-defence lessons. I've got to keep her from coming to school as a used up punching bag.** _

__**_** From Rachel: ** _ ** _ _ **Oh my, you know self-defence?**

Rachel could feel the temperature go up. Knowing self-defence? Definitely a turn-on.

_**_** From Quinn :  ** _ ** _ _**Not officially** _

Before Rachel could give a response, another text came in from Quinn.

_**_** From Quinn : ** _ ** _ _**Does it make you hot?**_

_**_**_** From Quinn :  ** _ ** _ ** _ _**I bet it does.** _

_**_**_** From Quinn :  ** _ ** _ ** _ _**Can you imagine me fighting with another girl… sweaty and hot?** _

Thankfully, the scandalized gasp came after reading the latest text was accompanied by Prof. Ryerson's dismissal and the outpouring of disgusted and wary students who would most likely drop the course by the end of the week. The poor boy that Ryerson fondled for most of the hour would mostly likely need therapy.

And for once Rachel Barbara Berry did not know how to reply to the calling out that Quinn had texted. Of course she was hot for Quinn. What about the perfect, wonderful and utterly beautiful Quinn Fabray would not be arouse-worthy? And now the imagery of a battle-worn Quinn was in her mind. Oh my, and wrestling with another girl. The cheery ringtone that indicated Quinn was calling, disrupted Rachel's downward spiral into perverted depths of her mind and she was thankful for the welcome distraction.

" _I'm SO sorry! My stupid friend hijacked my phone a-"_

Of course Quinn couldn't have sent those texts. It was totally out of character. Strangely, the fact that it wasn't Quinn sending them was a let down and Rachel decided it was time to pay her back.

"It's too bad Quinn, because your friend was right. Knowing that you've got a black belt in kicking ass? Kind of turns me on."

"…" The slightly choked gasping noise was the desired effect and that was exactly what Rachel got. The slightly sinister laugh in the background however was unexpected, as was the different voice that came through the phone.

" _Whatever you just did to Q was genius, Berry. I think you and I will be very good friends if you keep this up. Oh and if the celibacy queen here isn't enough for you I can show you a whole ne-"_

" _SANTANA!"_

Rachel chuckled at the antics of the two girls on the other line. It must be nice to have friends her own age. She guessed that being in a school environment where everybody wasn't just waiting for the chance to stab someone else in the back for a role would make it easier to make friends. Not that the ambitious, career-driven attitude helped her in high school. And while she had "friends" (semester rivals would be a more apt description), it hadn't been easy finding someone like Santana was to Quinn. Someone she could joke around and be completely open to. A normal friendship.

Of course, being a magical apprentice to the great Zatanna would limit the normalcy one could have.

" _GIVE ME BACK THE PHONE SANTANA!"_

There was a lot of clattering on the other end of the phone and it sounded to Rachel like a chase was under way.

" _Hey Berry!"_

Ah, Santana won the struggle, but Quinn's protests were getting louder.

"Hello Santana. It's nice to finally put a voice to the infamous best friend."

" _She better not have said shit about me being a bitch. I mean I totally am but it's something that should be experienced in person. You know what? Come hang out with us at the gym on Tuesday! You'll get to see me beat up your girl! Then you could play nurse to her- HEY! I wasn't do-"_

" _Rachel?"_

"I take it that your friend is now awake?" Rachel asked amusedly, happy to be talking with Quinn again.

" _Yeah… she didn't really like the fact that I told her they just opened a Breadstix Express in the student lounge to wake her up."_

Laughter threatened to bubble up once more when Rachel heard a faint  _"THAT SHIT AIN'T COOL FABRAY! Nobody lies abouts Breadstix! It's like in the Ten Commandments!"_ in the background.

"Your friend sounds like fun. I'd love to see you guys train." She'd love to have any excuse to see Quinn, to be honest. Sweaty or not sweaty.

" _Yeah fun... Just about as fun as sticking your hands in a shredder. But you're more than welcome to see me teach her a thing or two. Maybe afterwards we can watch Funny Girl? NO SANTANA, THAT'S NOT CODE FOR GETTING OUR MACK ON."_

Rachel smiled, thoroughly entertained by the duo's "Sounds like a date! See you then! Bye Quinn!"

" _Bye Rach! STOP ASKING FOR A THREES-"_

The Quinn-filled haze had returned in full force, sending the girl straight back up to Cloud Nine. Scratch that, she was on Star Nine. She had another date with Quinn! And she was going to meet Quinn's best friend. What would be the appropriate attire for such an affair? Should she give a gift to this Santana as well? Rachel was lucky that that was her only class, as she would have to hurry home and plan. Maybe break out the old PowerPoint presentation. With the familiar determined focus that often parted the halls of GAPA, she began her trip back to her place.

Her metaphorical flight into the love-stricken atmosphere had blocked Rachel from noticing the handsome new student eyeing her from a far. Many of the girls on campus were already whispering about the leading man potential in the new guy. Charming, talented and devilishly good-looking. Jesse St. James smiled at his new environment. It would be so easy to manipulate these poor saps that were so much less talented than he. Still Rachel Berry seemed to not notice him, which was worrisome.

Who didn't notice him?

But Gaia told him to go slow. Patience. And he would not fail his mistress.

* * *

" _So are you ever going to tell me why I'm looking up the address of Renee Montoya and her younger cousin so that you can break into their place, Dick?"_

The comm link was often a blessing for the Bat team but sometimes Nightwing wished he didn't have his ex-girlfriend questioning his every move in his head.

"Well Babs, I was just waiting for you to ask," he replied sarcastically, not getting anything from her end, he decided to just tell her, "I'm leaving a little something for our budding Bat-heroine."

" _Montoya's joining the team?"_

"No, her cousin."

" _Santana Lopez? Isn't that girl wh-"_

"Yeah, her parents were killed in a drive-by shooting after they shared a family dinner out. She was eighteen and her father was one of Thomas Wayne's brightest colleagues. Bruce is trying to discourage her from joining the crusade."

" _Working out well?"_ Oracle bit out with more than a bit of sarcasm.

He smirked at the memories of Batgirl and her first few meetings with the original Dynamic Duo. "Just about as well as it did with you."

" _Hence the..."_  He could hear the amusement in Barbara's tone. Amusement and nostalgia. She wasn't Batgirl anymore. It was a blow worse than any bullet.

"Hence the gift. Bruce is testing her. I'm just giving her a little learning aid to catch up with the rest of the class."

" _You think she has what it takes?"_ She asked sceptically. It was expected of course. Not just anyone could fill the vigilante boots.

"Hey she was your age when you started out."

" _That wasn't what I asked Dick."_

"Would I be helping her out if I didn't see it?" He bit back.

Oracle sighed in resignation. Understandable. Nobody in the business wanted another innocent involved. But Barbara had wanted to be in the business for herself. It was a job for her at first, no... a career. For people like Bruce, Dick and now Santana, it was more than just a job or a career. It was a ghost that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. They needed to do this.

" _No, of course not. So definite potential?"_

"Enough potential that it would be too dangerous not helping her."

" _Oh."_

It was silent for a few moments as Nightwing continued to cross the city by skyline.

" _You're going to bug the gift aren't you?"_

* * *

**Witches' Order of Cane Caverns…**

Orpheus stared at the photo of his lost love at his bedside. He could still remember her bright eyes and adoring smile. The way she would say his name with so much love.

But she was gone now. And all that was left was guilt.

The guilt would never go away. And it should never leave him.

It was all his fault. If he didn't drag her into this mess… She wouldn't be dead. And he wouldn't have sold his soul to the devil. Magic cults, evil cabals. This wasn't what he wanted. He never wanted that.

He had just wanted Emma back.

"Will? You should really get some sleep. We've got a long day tomorrow. I mean you've got to arrange that meeting with Ra's and then there's the magicks arms deal with the London branch. Not to mention Klarion the whiny little bitch boy who only wants to deal with Gaia and her stupid potions. Honestly, I don't know how I can deal with all that."

'That's because you don't. It's either me or Gaia.' Will thought darkly. He never would have thought that his ex-wife would have this much control over him after the divorce. But one never can get a divorce with an evil witch without some sort of pay back. He just wished Emma wasn't the one who paid.

But patience was key. That was what Shelby constantly told him. She would know. She waited over twenty years for the Power to arise. They just needed to keep it safe from the Witches' Cult. Siphoning enough power would free both him and Shelby.

"Since you're still awake Will, we might as well take advantage of the time given."

Patience, Orpheus. Patience.

"Whatever you desire, Mistress Persephone." He gathered his strength and turned over to face the woman he used to love.

"Will… No silly codenames in bed."

"… Yes Terri."

**TO BE CONTINUED IN: ISSUE #7**

**WORK IN PROGRESS**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So the code-named characters are revealed! Did you guess correctly?
> 
> Next up: Puck threatens Santana? Rachel meets Santana. Rachel meets Jesse. Quinn has trouble with excuses goes to someone with experience for advice. And what exactly did Nightwing leave for the Razor-whatever her name is? Stay tuned.
> 
> Please read and review! If you guys have any ideas for glee characters in this DC universe let me know! Until next time dear readers.


	11. You Can't Choose Your Family... (Brittany and the Royal Flush Gang Origin Story)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We've seen the Gotham Origins of Quinn, Santana and Rachel... Now we get a glimpse of our favourite blonde bombshell thief. How did Brittany and Sam get mixed up with the likes of greedy masterminds like Rex? And will there be a way out for the reluctant siblings?

Issue #6.5

You Can't Choose Your Family... It Chooses You

Bright colours, wires, nets. Raucous laughter and screams of joy. Gasps of amazement and awed faces. Happiness. Freedom. Brightly coloured leotards. These were Brittany's earliest memories, merely echoes of sensations that seemed so far away. Utters she dare not whisper for fear of the King's wrath.

They were a sharp contrast from the vividly dark seedy Gotham underbelly where she grew up. Her playground was comprised of the alleyways and dumpsters, as she spent her childhood performing unimaginable stunts and feats of jaw-dropping gymnastics. Her fellow street urchins, often-abandoned children, runaways or fellow criminal spawns, dared her to climb higher and jump further until she was able to sail through the city by rooftops.

It was the skills Brittany displayed at an early age that emboldened the King to move past run-of-the-mill cons to outright-armed robbery and the biggest con of all. The façade of a good man who fostered abandoned and disabled children only covered the true evil that lurked beneath.

The Queen had always tried to make her feel special throughout Brittany's childhood. She was the first of many recruits but she didn't start off that way and the Queen was always smart enough to recognize that acting as the girl's mother would be the best way to ensure the loyalty that the King needed.

But once upon a time Rex and Donna were just poor con artists trying to earn a living. Brittany was told that she was just an abandoned four-year old kid on the streets. They said nobody wanted her. Rex didn't even want anything to do with the brat but there was something there that Donna had seen.

Potential.

The little urchin was the epitome of innocence and had the face that nobody could say no to. She was also the most gullible kid they had ever seen. It was perfect. A couple of brownie scouts cons or poor little street kid acts and they could make a pretty penny.

But as Rex watched the girl grow, it was obvious that her talents lay elsewhere. And when he finally convinced her to try her hand at robbery, calling it a fun family game night, it became abundantly clear what kind of potential his "daughter" had. So he thought about all the ways that those talents could be exploited which made way to the brilliant idea that followed shortly after. How many more of these kids could he find? And if he could find more, what were the possibilities? An army of thieves that would be loyal to him.

Brittany was ten when they brought in Sam, a sullen brown-haired mouse of a boy who had just lost his parents in a hit and run. It was another instance of pure luck on Rex and Donna's part. His parents were nothing but homeless good-for-nothings who served no importance to the good upstanding people of Gotham. Nobody would miss them or the little squirt they left behind.

It was amazing how quickly Brittany and Sam bonded as siblings. The boy was so scared when they took him in, not talking to either Rex or Donna. Not even acknowledging the fact that he was just kidnapped. They worried that he might be mute. But as soon as their bubbly blonde daughter saw the downtrodden boy she latched on to him faster than she could crack a safe. She quickly took care of her new brother, hugging him, making him giggle and play, waking up and comforting him when he had nightmares. She would encourage him and once he came out of his shell, he would protect her in return. They were two peas in a pod.

It was Donna's idea to start bleaching Sam's hair so it would match Brittany's golden locks. There was enough of a resemblance to sell that they were truly brother and sister. Perfect for what Rex had planned.

While Brittany still believed in the robbery "games" they played, Sam knew what the family was really doing. They were the villains in every comic book that he read. The poor boy was confused. How could Brittany be a villain?

"Why are you making Brittany a bad guy? She keeps stealing stuff and you're making her," he asked one day, concerned about the chances of getting caught. He didn't want his sister going to jail.

But Rex was as skilled in charm as Brittany was in thieving. "Why we aren't the bad guys, we're stealing from the bad guys!"

"Like Robin Hood?" He questioned in typical boy-like enthusiasm.

"Just like Robin Hood." It was supposed to be comforting, but all it did was terrify the poor kid.

There was a slimy quality in Rex's voice that day that solidified Sam's decision to never trust the man. Although he knew he could escape their world, Brittany quickly became the only thing in his. And with that, he knew he could never leave. But maybe, if he could prove to be more valuable than his sister, she could escape.

Surprisingly, along with the acrobatic skills she was blessed with, Brittany was also very tech savvy. It was almost as if the girl could communicate with computers the way she worked them over. As with any other opportunity for exploitation, Rex cultivated and took advantage of that skill faster than the Flash could run across the world. They quickly earned themselves names as bright business people on the net through Brittany's unbeatable hacking capabilities.

They grew up and out of Gotham Underground, establishing themselves as an honest, hardworking family trying to make it in the business scene. Brittany didn't understand why they had to change their last names or pretend but treated it as if it were any other game. Rex didn't praise the girl so much as he did call her stupid but he never said anything when she played the game right. Their newest game of pretend was also a chance for Brittany to be treated like a normal daughter by the two con artists. She knew it wasn't real but she still cherished those moments.

Brittany had just turned sixteen when Artie was brought into the mix. Sam spent many hours trying to convince her that the new kid wasn't part robot. It was the first time she encountered somebody who could play the computer game as well as she could. But she didn't like him so much. He could be really mean sometimes.

Sam hated him.

As for Artie, he was somebody that Rex had almost missed. This was a boy who had lived in a wheelchair for half of his life. How could he possibly take part in Rex's empirical plan? Even without the use of his legs, the boy was a certified genius with an almost maniacal drive to be better, to have better things and a better life. With one pat on the back, Artie was onboard and ready to build. Providing money he had gained from his larger cons, Rex gave Artie the opportunity to build robotics, better computers for their growing gang and most importantly, a chance for him to walk.

Falling in love at first sight with Brittany may have played a part in his decision to join them as well.

By then their front of honest diligence and family oriented kindness became noticed by the likes of Kane Corporation. KC was the only corporation in Gotham that could rival Wayne Industries. Their rise to greatness only made things harder for their nightly unlawful acts.

When Rex saw the news of the Royal Flush Gang getting caught on night, he knew just what he had to do.

And so the Rex became the King. He did not quite understand why Donna laughed at him saying, "So you're just becoming yourself."

The title of Queen was practically shoved down Donna's throat. She had the old-school code when it came to thievery. Basically, if you wore tights, fought men wo wore tights and were unsuccessful… you lost all respect in the Underground. But Rex was convincing and could probably make a dog think he were a duck.

Sam reluctantly became the strong-armed Jack, sadly acknowledging the fact that their supervillain status would be finalized by taking on the alter ego. But if he could keep Brittany safe, that was all that mattered.

Brittany took on the name of Ten; not truly understanding like Sam had, exactly what they were getting into. It was a game. She had no idea she would resent as much as she did now.

Out of all the kids, it was Artie who fully embraced his new name: Ace. With his new robotic invention, he could control a huge android from the safety of their hideout but still be in the action. He eventually hoped to turn the tech into a suit, in order to further his search for the cure to his disability and maybe impress Brittany while he was at it.

They were the newest generation of the Royal Flush Gang and by far the most successful. For what was once a gang of fancy dressed robbers was now a growing illegal weapons dealer.

Rex's evil plan wasn't to take over the world or destroy it. He merely wanted to make money. It was like a never-ending itch that needed to be scratched. He just needed more. Becoming Kane Industries' second in command all the while stealing the most advanced technology and selling to the highest bidder? That was his slow burn to greatness.

And the best part of having family as your cohorts? They will always be loyal.

Whatever growing hesitance or guilt Donna felt in recent years would never weigh more than the fear of getting caught. She would never sell him out because she would go down with him. That was love.

Sam would always be there for Brittany. No doubt about that. In fact, that was precisely what King had always relied on. He was such a weak little boy when they found him and he grew up strong for the sole purpose of protecting his new sister. Rex always thought that in the back of Sam's head was that poor little street urchin that craved a better life and the King counted on that desire as well.

Their first adopted daughter would also never truly be a problem for Rex's plan. She was just too stupid to know any better.

And Artie praised the ground that both King and Ten walked on.

It was all going according to plan. They just needed to get the police off the trail.

Hopefully his little girl wasn't so stupid as to mess that up.

Rex's thoughts were disrupted as his personal secretary walked in to give him his mail for the day.

"How are you doing today Mr. Evans?" the beautiful raven-haired secretary asked, flirting slightly in her tone.

The charismatic con man smirked, his eyes leering over her body, "Why just fine Laney, but not as fine as you."

"You're incorrigible!" she squeaked, adorably sexy in her almost sinfully sexy office skirt, "And apparently in high demand, looks like Bruce Wayne sent an official invitation for another charity ball. It's dedicated to some doctors who died in a shoot out."

He never thought he would see the day when Bruce Wayne invited  _him_ to a charity function. The impoverished young man that scraped by in the Gotham Underground was now on the invite list of one of the world's richest men.

Another chance to network and eye the next target. "Well... if Bruce expects us. Who are we to say no?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Be Continued In
> 
> Issue #7
> 
> Work In Progress


	12. A Work In Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so worlds collide! Quinn's cousin Connor Kent (otherwise known as Superboy), pays a visit to Gotham City meeting the best friend, the potential girlfriend and... Puck? Rachel feels the cold shoulder from Quinn and finally meets the infamous Santana.
> 
> It's Santana vs Quinn in this issue!

Issue #7 (SPECIAL DOUBLE SIZED ISSUE)

Work In Progress

Brittany fled GCPD after dispatching her opponent, not looking back until she was safely scaling the city's rooftops. A particular leap made her wince because it managed to hit almost all of her bruises. Clutching the flash drive in her breast pocket, she tried to still her beating heart.

That was a great fight.

It was an exhilarating encounter and although Brittany hated violence, she couldn't wait to go another round with her mysterious foe. It was like a dance; an intense and very seductive tango that ignited every nerve in her body. She couldn't remember the last time a heist felt like that. A playful back and forth with a worthy opponent.

She really didn't want to lose but the sheer determination and sense of heroic justice in the other girl was enticing. What did it feel like to play on the other side of the game?

The quacking ringtone of her phone reminded her of the King's orders and she raced back to the hideout almost running over her brother in the process.

"Sorry, Sam!" She hollered over her shoulder.

Brittany didn't want to make Dadd- the King mad.

Her brother looked after her long after she disappeared down the corridor. It was just for a second but Sam saw the wounds, still fresh and open.

King heavily relied on Brittany for simple cat burglary. It was easy and harmless for his skilled sister but now that they had her learning to hack more complicated security systems, simple thievery was now dangerous reconnaissance.

How long before King's mad game turned even deadlier?

He had to do something… and soon.

* * *

Santana was not above killing her ex-boyfriend. At least that's what she was telling herself as she tried to get past Puck to the package left at her apartment that was addressed to her from a certain vigilante. Her cousin was a freaking cop after all. She could totally get away with it by pleading insanity and blaming her split personality. She named her Snixx.

"Are we seriously going through this again Puckerman?"

Said ex-boyfriend couldn't be budged as he held the mysterious gift left for her over his head. "Yes!"

"Aggh!" Santana yelled in frustration. Why did Puck have to be such a stubborn ass?

Puck scowled thinking the same about his best friend. "You tell me what happened and promise me you won't leave me out again and you'll get whatever Twinkle Toes gave us."

"He left it for me!"

"We're partners San!"

"So?" she childishly replied.

The response angered him even more and he stalked towards her. "So we're supposed to be in this together! Team Badass!"

"If you're so badass than why didn't you notice that I just swiped the package that you were keeping from me?" Santana smirked and waved the box in front of him teasingly before scampering further from the enraged cadet.

After unsuccessfully chasing the conniving girl, Puck decided it was time to pull out the big guns. He suddenly halted his pursuit and called after her.

"Giving up?" she answered mockingly.

Puck pulled out his phone smugly, "Nope. I'm just making a call."

"What?"

"Yeah. I was thinking your cousin might want to know about your nightly activities. I'm sure she'd love to know it was you that messed up her office."

Santana's eyes widened in fear with the threat. "Fuck you." She spat out.

He smiled at the curse. He totally won.

* * *

The night sky was beautiful during this time of the year. If Quinn could feel the extremes of the weather it would've been classified as perfectly chilly. Of course sitting on the roof of a high-riser would make the temperature too cold for normal human beings but Quinn, the Kryptonian Supergirl, was anything but normal… or human. The constant reminder that she should have been freezing cold, hundreds of stories up with only a short skirt and a top that showed her belly was always forgotten when she started reading her books.

It really was the ideal location to get her reading done.

On Krypton, her favourite reading spot was on the tree in their back property. Her father would call it her Citadel in the Sky. Her place among the clouds. Not that her mother approved of such poetic metaphors. Live in reality Kara, she would say. The clouds are nothing but a trap for the fools.

Zor-El and Alura had their most intense arguments whenever she said that.

When Kara arrived on Earth, she tried to find another tree. But they proved to be much to short for her now.

Kara could actually have a place in the clouds to retreat to.

Reading among the clouds was both poetic and literal in this case, and she supposed it was her attempt to escape how claustrophobic she felt in her apartment. Her mind, however, nagged that it was so much more than that. Much more as in the girl she spent half the night stalk-  _protecting_ before the brown-eyed beauty fell asleep.

Rachel.

It was always Rachel. Thought consuming, bright and beautiful Rachel Berry. She was so much larger than life which was ironic because of her petite form but even thinking about the paradoxical girl would send Quinn into a jumbled state of…

Of what?

And that was the six million dollar question. Quinn didn't know. In some ways, she was afraid to find the answer. Rachel was this huge magnet that Quinn had no power against. Powerless was something that she couldn't afford to be.

At the same time, being with Rachel made her feel like the most powerful being in the universe. It was the first time she fully understood the books she read when protagonists would metaphorically say that they were floating.

Except Quinn was actually floating whenever she was near her. Yeah, she should start working on keeping that under control.

"Whaddya doing?"

The sudden and unexpected casual voice made Quinn jump another six feet in the air before landing back on the rooftop. The immature chortling that followed clued the ego-damaged girl in on who spooked her.

Turning to glare at the intruder, she gave a hard punch in his arm.

"Ow!" Had he been a normal boy instead of a Superboy, the blow would have completely crushed his arm. Instead Connor just gave a mocking pout.

"Serves you right for scaring me."

"Jeez. A dude just comes to visit his favourite cousin and this is what he gets?"

"Please you were just with Tim weren't you?" Quinn accurately accused, "How was your weekly date with Drake?"

Connor reddened at the teasing, "Not a date! I just needed to straighten things out about Cassie."

"Things not going well?" she asked sympathetically. Quinn may not like the girl at the moment but Cassie and Connor were the golden couple of the teen hero generation.

Her cousin shrugged, "I don't know! She doesn't really talk about the last year. And she's so different and I'm basically the same dude I was a year ago. I just- I don't know where  _we_ are."

Quinn gave Connor a sympathetic nudge, "You'll figure it out."

What else could she say? Cassie was freaking nuts. But she was freaking nuts over Connor. They will figure it out… somehow.

Still long buried memories of feelings for the Amazonian-trained girl rose up again to the surface. Unwanted reanimation much like in the zombie films Santana made her watch. Quinn thought she could put the hurt behind her. The betrayal at not being wanted for who she was but what she was. Quinn knew Connor felt the same insecurities, being a clone of both Superman and Lex Luthor.

Rachel brought out feelings in her that Quinn had yet to decipher. She got through the first date and it was amazing. But was it worth the inevitable push and pull of lies, betrayal and painted truths?

Quinn just didn't know.

"Yeah that's what Tim said." Connor didn't seem to believe it. Quinn didn't even believe what she was saying. Seeing the poor galoot in such a state made the Kryptonian girl give her cousin a bone. A distraction.

"I'm giving fighting lessons to Santana tomorrow."

Connor Kent could fly, telepathically and physically stop a bullet, and bench press a building, but he was still very much a horny teenage boy. The current image of a sweaty Santana Lopez running in his mind successfully distracted him from any love/relationship troubles.

"Can I watch?- OW!"

* * *

"So… Batman's sidekick got you a hair dryer with a claw? Or is this some nasty toy that I don't know about?"

Santana rolled her eyes, "Of course not, dumbass. It's what they use to swing from building to building. They can't all fly you know."

The box was filled with small gadgets and dark brown eyes lit up at the sight of the customized razor blades that Santana knew she could hide anywhere on her body. Oh the possibilities. She didn't know what this gift meant in terms of her standing with the Batmob, but she would take what she could get.

"By the looks of the research I saw on Renee's computer. The suspect may be close with Kane or Wayne so we may need to do some reconnaissance to find out who these bastards are."

Puck looked at his partner with uncertainty. "Are you sure we should get into something this big? I mean we just got our asses kicked by the big guns. Maybe we shou-"

"Renee's computer got jacked by McBlondeHottie Thief. What if she was there?" Santana could feel her heart clench in fear at the thought of losing somebody else. Looking up resolutely, she started again, "I can't just stand around and ignore this shit. She might get hurt. Besides, we have a couple of weeks to get ready for the recon."

"Why?"

"If this Royal Flush Gang has access to Kane Corp and Wayne Industries, their moles in the corporations may be at the Wayne Charity Ball he's hosting… in honor of my parents." She was revealing more than she liked but it was kind of nice, having a back up and all. Kind of.

Puck nodded solemnly. "That's in a month and a half right?"

"Yeah, around the anniversary."

They both let the conversation die there. Neither wanted to talk about the Dr. and Mrs. Lopez. Instead, they continued to examine the 'gifts' from Nightwing.

"Hey, you're going to let me have one of these things right?" Puck asked excitedly.

Santana bit her tongue as she felt a resounding "HELL NO!" bubble up. Her ex had the cards unfortunately, and was both stupid and stubborn enough to go through with his threat.

"Fine but you're testing them." She smirked in satisfaction when she saw his face whiten.

* * *

"Are you sure this is safe?"

The air was a little biting, but Puck would guess it's because they were standing on the rooftop of Santana's apartment building. Why the hell did he agree to this again?

"Hey, you wanted to be in on the action," Santana taunted with her signature smirk. "This is as action packed as it's gonna get, Puckasaurus Pancake- I mean Rex."

Puck gulped audibly, the Adam's Apple bobbing affirming one thing: he was fucking scared shitless. Nevertheless, backing out was not an option. He knew San was just waiting for him to be the first to play chicken. He was going to be a fuckiing Gotham cop! He had the balls to do this.

Steadying the grappling gun, he aimed at the taller building nearby and pulled the trigger.

BANG

The clanging claw did its job and held tightly to the fire escape. Puck just stood there in awe of his work but Santana would have none of it.

"Get on with it, Puck. It's just the next building over." She peered over the edge, calculatingly. "Hell, I could jump that shit!"

"Shut up!" Puck bit back weakly. He could do this shit, he could-

Santana rolled her eyes, too impatient to let the poor guy finish his confidence building mantra. She just had to give a little push. "Oops!"

"AHHHHHHH! Oof!"

Huh. I guess all that hot air helps a douchebag land on his feet.

Aiming her own grapple-gun, Santana anxiously shot out to a similar fire escape to make her own jump.

This was going to be good.

* * *

**THE NEXT DAY**

**Gotham Academy of Performing Arts**

Rachel stalked down the halls of the Rhodes Building, the sharp staccato of her heels signalling people to clear the way. Honestly, whoever gave that Sandy Ryerson fellow a degree in teaching should be given permanent residence at Arkham Asylum.

That man made _her_  look like the picture of normalcy and sanity.

The familiar ringtone assigned to a certain brunette chimed its way past Rachel's fury and made her smile at the message

_Sorry I couldn't reply, I was having a talk with my cousin. He's in town and he wants to see me teach Santana how to fight._

_You can still back out though._

_**It's nice that your cousin wants to visit you. And of course I still want to witness your teaching venture. If you keep asking me, I might think that you don't wish to see me…** _

She sent off the text reply quickly. But not desperately, she assured herself. It was at a perfectly socially acceptable pace. Wasn't it? Was the emoticon too much?

Rachel wasn't so sure anymore. A few days ago, she would have been ecstatically preparing matching relationship calendars and planning a setlist of songs to serenade to Quinn; now she felt like she had to count to ten before doing any of those things.

She didn't want to scare her off.

It was just so hard now. Before it was all about the EGOT and keeping her magicks under control. It took a while but she got used to it. She didn't mind keeping to herself.

Back then she didn't have to worry about a perfect, utterly gorgeous blonde who walked on a sidewalk like the world was her personal runway.

Now it was  _all_  about Quinn. What was she doing? What classes did she have today? Did she get anything to eat yet? Was she getting mercilessly teased by her best friend?

She learned from her aggressively gay friend Kurt that having a clingy obsession with someone would be dangerous but surely it wasn't that bad.

Rachel just thought about Quinn all the time. Like now, as she was wondering what was taking the beautiful blonde so long to text back.

.

..

…

Was it  _weird_ having all-consuming thoughts about a girl you didn't even know until a few weeks ago?

Rachel had no idea. It probably was but she didn't care. She needed Quinn like a drug addict needed drugs.

Okay, not the most positive metaphor.

She needed Quinn like the flower needs the sun.

Better. It was both more hopeful and aesthetically pleasing to her mind. The snide ' _still needy and pathetic though Rachel,'_ played out in her head as well but Rachel Barbara Berry was not going to be a Debbie Downer.

"Hi." The velvety smooth greeting barely caught Rachel's attention but the body that it belonged to was in the way of her next destination.

"Oh, hello," she said distractedly. When was Quinn going to text back?

"I'm Jesse, Jesse St. James. And you're Rachel Berry."

Rachel's eyes snapped up to the stranger's face, narrowing, "And how do you know that?"

"Well it's only natural to know the name of the most talented girl at this scho-"

The strange guy was interrupted by the ringtone emanating from Rachel's phone. She nearly squealed in excitement.

"Sorry Jason, I have to go. It was nice meeting you."

"It's Jesse! JESSE ST. JAMES!"

She barely heard the protest as she read the text that Quinn sent, an adorable apology about her earlier messages, and quickly made her way to her economically safe smart car. Rachel needed to get ready to meet two important people in Quinn's life after all.

Did she have to redo her PowerPoint slides for this?

* * *

"I can't believe I agreed to do this."

"Yeah, it's going to be so hot." Seeing the heated glare in Quinn's eyes, Connor backtracked, "I mean everything will be fine Quinn. Just relax."

"Relax? How can I relax? One wrong move and I could rip Santana's arm off! What was I thinking?" She started pacing the locker room with such ferocity that Connor feared she was going to wear out the floor.

There was only one way to stop his cousin's crazy meltdown so Connor grabbed her by her arms and lifted her up effortlessly to stop the pacing.

"CONNOR! W-what're you doing? Let me GO!"

Connor refused to budge and kept his unusually serious gaze on his cousin. "Clark's been drilling us on limiting our abilities since we've been here Quinn. You'll be fine."

" _Clark_  would never have agreed to do something like this." She argued, struggling a little under Connor's hold.

"He would if he knew his best friend would get hurt otherwise and this was the only way to help her." A raised eyebrow told him she wasn't convinced. "Okay, he would if he knew how to kick ass the way you do."

Quinn laughed at the amendment, "Well, not all of us can be trained by population of Amazonian soldiers."

"Dude." Eyes began to glaze over and Quinn blew out a breath of exasperation.

Boys.

"Okay you visualizing an island full of hot women getting all sweaty while fighting, isn't something I want to witness from this proximity so can you let me down?"

* * *

Rachel walked up to the gym with a hint of uncertainty. Maybe it was the slightly sketchy location or the faint smell of man sweat, but she was definitely rethinking her chosen outfit. It was a modest sweater; she got rid of the animal themed ones before coming to Gotham, with her usual short skirt. A staple in the Rachel Barbara Berry wardrobe and a hit with her fellow thespians, who dressed eerily similar to her own style, but in the middle of a testosterone zone… she felt like a lamb who got lost in the middle of a wolf pack.

"Hey babe! How'd you like a ticket to the gun show?"

Oh God, people actually used that line in real life? Rachel took a deep breath, from the mouth because the man-smell was a bit much.

"I apologize if you have the impression that I'd be the least bit interested in seeing your 'show' and yes, perhaps your 'guns' are quite impressive but I'm not and will never proceed further than an air of passing admiration at your ability to maintain an Adonis-like musculature; partially because your body odour is quite revolting but mostly because I find myself more on the Sapphic side of things at this time."

By the end of her long-winded speech, many of the men approaching her before were now back to their previous activities, praying that the small woman didn't direct her attention on them.

"Uh…huh?" The man she was speaking to was just giving her a blank stare, jaw unhinged. It was then that Rachel noticed a woman behind him, biting her knuckle to keep from laughing her ass off.

"Translation: she's into chicks not dicks and you reek!" The shorter, tanned girl beside the speechless muscle-man, was looking at Rachel with sceptical admiration, "Jesus, Hobbs, you can clear a room faster than when Puckerman passes gas."

The voice rang out with enough snark to cut somebody but Rachel could tell that she could have been sharper. She heard that voice before too. "Might you be Santana?"

Recognition hit the girl's eyes and she leered at Rachel and Rachel's legs.

"Damn! Quinn's Berry? Didn't recognize you without the hot fishnets." She whistled appreciatively at the bit of tanned perfection peeking out between Rachel's skirt and high argyle stockings. The clothes might have been like hot coals to the eyes but the space between?

Hot.

The whistle drew a blush from the shorter girl and she sputtered finding a response. "Well-I um thanks? Zatanna likes to use the uniform in her superhero business as well but I can't find such an excuse to wear them outside of the Magic Show."

"Oh just wait to get down and dirty with Q-ball and you'll have plenty of reasons to wear those knock-outs."

"SANTANA!" At the yell, Rachel, Puck and Santana all turned in unison.

Rachel brightened immediately while still maintaining the touch of red from Santana's teasing. "Quinn!"

Had Quinn not had superhuman reflexes she might have been on the ground by the force of the little human in her arms. It always used to be such an inconvenience. Adjusting yourself for the slightest of contact with normal humans on earth. Super-strength and invulnerability could cause somebody to break a bone with the slightest flick of the wrist. It was all about control. Part of her craved to always have that control. The other part of her despised having to keep the wall up at all times.

It reminded her of her mother.

But the slight adjustments she made to make sure that Rachel didn't feel like she collided with a wall came without a second thought.

Quinn smiled. In control or out of control, Rachel was a force of nature. The overwhelming feelings proved to be too much though and she quickly detangled their bodies, stepping out of Rachel's personal space.

Rachel noticed the brush-off and frowned but any doubting thoughts were diverted by the tone in Quinn's greeting.

"Hey Rach." The raw tenderness and care in Quinn's voice was enough for Santana to make exaggerated vomiting sounds and Puck's eyes to widen.

"Are all the hottest girls in Gotham gay?"

* * *

Rachel sat between the two hulking boys on the padded mat that was a good distance from the ring. The girls were still getting ready and Rachel was taking her time to know her potential partner's cousin. It was hard to believe that Quinn's cousin was still in high school considering his size but even Quinn didn't look like her tender age of eighteen. Must have been in the genes. The glasses also threw her off. Connor's sheer size and shape didn't seem to fit with the rounded frames that covered his eyes.

Despite their obvious physical differences in appearance, there was something about Connor that made it equally obvious that he and Quinn were related. Their eyes were not the same colour but there was still that same quiet tempest swirling in those orbs.

"If you keep on giving me those googly eyes, Quinn's gonna get jealous."

Connor's teasing shook Rachel from her thoughts and she blushed. "S-sorry. It's just you and Quinn don't really look alike. But your eyes are very similar. They're both very… hypnotizing."

The boy laughed in response, "I thought you were the magic one. Quinn's been going on and on about how she's been under your spell."

Something about Connor's off-hand comment, reminded Rachel of his cousin's earlier rush to get out of their tender greeting. It was… disconcerting but perhaps Quinn was uncomfortable with PDA in front of friends. At least that was the hypothesis Rachel came up with to sooth the red flares going on in her mind.

Puck joined the conversation with a lewd comment about wanting watch them while they do magic under each other and high-fived Connor over Rachel's head. Rachel just sighed and turned her gaze at the locker rooms longingly.

Noah Puckerman was better after the disastrous attempt at picking her up. After complaining that the best girls were always gay, he warmed up to the petite brunette in the argyle. Of course that may have been because of the Star of David necklace that he caught sight of as he tried to peer down Rachel's shirt. Fellow Jews had to stick together after all.

Once the two girls came to the ring, Rachel halted all vulgar comments between the boys. The performance was starting.

* * *

"You sure you want your girl watching when I kick your ass, Q?" Santana taunted. While she accepted her offer to learn, there was still a part of her that doubted the meek goodie-goodie Quinn Fabray could teach her anything about fighting.

"Just shut your mouth and tighten up your pony, S. Don't want your hair getting in the way." Quinn had to focus now. The shift in demeanour wasn't lost to her would-be student and all taunts were stopped.

They bowed, both having enough experience in formal Martial Arts to respect the rules and each other.

"Show me what you've got, San. I need to know what I have to work with."

"You asked for it."

Quinn barely managed to hear the fearful squeak that came from Rachel as Santana rushed to attack. Focus.

The world around her slowed as she took a breath. Super-speed allowed for the lengthened time to observe and critique Santana's fighting style. Quinn saw the weaknesses, the strengths. Like Santana's own personality, the style was rough and vicious but still had moments of vulnerability. She liked to bite off more than can be chewed. Sometimes it paid off.

The visible bruises all over her body told Quinn that more often than not, the pay off wasn't worth it.

When the world sped up again, Santana found herself flat on her back. The attack was countered swiftly; Quinn used Santana's own strength against her. The sudden humiliation fuelled by the cheering from the sidelines only served to further enrage the brunette fighter.

Punches were thrown that didn't connect. Kicks aimed at Quinn's head were swatted away or used to throw Santana back to the ground. Diversion tactics never worked more than once and throughout all this, Quinn had yet to break out a sweat.

"Come on, Santana. I know you can do better than that."

"Fuck off." She bitched back in response. There's only so much her pride and her back could take. How the hell could Quinn throw her to the ground the same exact way with all of the different tactics Santana's tried?

Wait.

Quinn's been throwing her the exact same way, EVERY TIME.

Just to be sure, Santana threw another well-aimed kick to Quinn's pretty, blonde head and with an almost inhuman-like precision; she ended up on her back once more.

This time she knew exactly how she got there.

The soreness in her muscles was ignored as she got up once more. Even more determined than ever. She barely registered Puck's yells telling her to just stay down. She could do this. The sheer ferocity in her attacks died down and Santana felt a silent intensity build. She raised her fists up in defence and waited.

The slight change in Santana's bearing was distinct. The lesson silently learned.

'Finally' thought Quinn. 'Took her long enough.'

She could finally go on the offensive and Quinn wasted no time in doing so. Throwing her first punch in the match, she felt her own throw used against her and was barely able to lighten her own fall.

"QUINN!"

* * *

Puck couldn't take any more of this. He leaned forward to talk to Connor. "Dude tell your cousin to stop throwing Santana around like a fricking ragdoll."

Connor bristled, "Hey, it's not her fault that your friend sucks at fighting."

"What kind of a fighter does the same move over and over? That's like breaking the Ten Commandments of Street Fighter! It's weak!"

Rachel paid no attention to the conversation going on around her. She didn't even notice her phone vibrating. She just watched the match as if she were a judge on American Idol. It was a dance… an intricate, sexy, sweaty dance that had Quinn gliding across the matt with equal parts of grace and fierceness. Beautiful.

It wasn't the fight as she imagined it would be. She saw that quickly after the first throw. It was off. Quinn's choreography had a meaning behind it. A lesson. That was as clear as day.

And then the choreography shifted. Santana wasn't on the attack. Quinn was.

The punch thrown, wide and open was easily blocked. Santana learned from the umpteenth throw and used it against Quinn.

Rachel guessed that was the real lesson but still couldn't resist yelling out as the blonde hit the ground. "QUINN!"

"OOF!"

It looked like Quinn's fall hurt. Rachel had already gotten up but could feel the ground shake at the same moment. But that was impossible. Look at Quinn. She couldn't weigh enough to make any kind of quake.

Rachel shook off the notion and rushed to Quinn's side. "Are you okay?"

"See Q? I knew you'd have Berry play your nurse after I was done with you!" Santana goaded smugly.

"HELL YEAH!" Puck added high-fiving his partner in crime… fighting. "THAT'S how we do it in Gotham Heights!"

Quinn made a show of wincing as Rachel helped her off the ground but rebuffed any further physical contact once she was up. "So that makes it one win against… twenty-five throws?"

"Hey! You said you'd teach me something! I'm fucking tired and sore… and you only taught me like one move! I feel like a lost my virginity to Puckerman all over again!"

Both Quinn and Rachel reddened while Puck was affronted. "HEY!"

Ignoring the indignant idiot, Santana continued her ranting, "I mean seriously, I bust out almost every trick in my book and you cheat by doing the same move over again. That's like breaking every rule in the Street Fighter game handbook."

"Those cheats in the game make you win right?" Quinn asked, immediately reminding herself of every self-defence lesson she received from Bruce and Diana. Worst comes to worse, you do what it takes to survive.

Puck raised an eyebrow at the stupid question. "Yeah… and totally hated on by everybody."

"This isn't a video game, Noah!" Rachel interjected, quite tired of their need to needle the poor blonde.

Quinn's lips quirked up at the show of support but it faded as she faced Puck and Santana, "She's right. This isn't a video game. It's better to be alive and hated than…"

The dark turn in her thoughts made everybody pause. Rachel didn't quite understand but for both Quinn and Connor and Puck and Santana, the alternative to the scenario rang too close to home.

* * *

**Royal Flush Gang Hideout**

"We know which cops are investigating the Royal Flush robberies but what can you tell us about the caped crusaders, Doolsby?"

The man in question gave a lazy, confident smile. "Not a problem, sir. My contacts in both the GCPD and the DA's office tell me that the Batman's focus is on some other big world crisis."

"Good, good." The King nodded but wasn't completely satisfied, "And the talks of a Super in town?"

"Uh," Doolsby fumbled for an answer, "It's just the girl. She won't be a problem."

King raised his eyebrows, unimpressed, "Oh really? Then why was she able to disrupt one of my Black Market auctions? I had high bidders on that shipment."

The audible gulp seemed to ring out in the King's office but Doolsby wasn't one without a back-up plan. "We… we could divert her from the auction tonight."

"How?" The King was expectant and Doolsby refused to show his weakness at being unprepared. Was the office always so hot? And stuffy?

"I-well…" the soft tapping of fingers on the mahogany desk sounded off like a countdown, "Arson! A fire. O-on the far side of town."

"Would that be enough?"

"More than one then. A wild fire in the park."

"Make sure it gets done, Doolsby." King stated, approving the plan after letting the goon wait in fearful silence.

Just outside the office, Brittany waited patiently for her own meeting with the King. She never liked the slimy lawyer/henchman, but still grimaced at her father's quiet threat.

"Oh and Doolsby?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Don't forget… everyone is replaceable. Everyone."

She saw the usually powerful and confident lawyer shiver in fear as he stalked out of the office.

It was her turn now.

There was always a slight moment in before going into a family meeting with the King. One where Brittany's usually quick feet were paralyzed, too fearful of the ever-changing moods he could be in.

"Ten?" A softer voice echoed in the hallway. "Oh dear, what happened to your face?"

"Donna." Brittany replied softly.

The older woman clicked her tongue, "Now darling, you know that I'm your mother. Call me Mom or Queen."

Blue eyes darkened at the maternal tone. She was  _never_ like this before. Now that they were out of the slums and in the public spotlight, it was all about the family front. Wholesome goodness. Even with Brittany's naïve and optimistic outlook on life, she could never trust the woman who suddenly decided that she cared.

The whole façade was vomit-inducing.

"Goodness, we need to take care of those wounds straightaway. My beautiful girl shouldn't have any scarring whatsoever."

Mental spewage definitely in the works.

"TEN!" The King bellowed.

"She needs to be fixed up, Rex!" Donna yelled back.

Brittany focused on the obvious fake tan that painted her adoptive mother's hand, grimacing at the unusual gestures of care it was displaying.

"What she  _needs_  is to give me the data drive that I told her to get."

The underlying doom in the man's tone was never a good sign and in some cases it was more welcome than Donna's maternal actions. At least the King's wrath was a constant.

"Yes, Father," she mumbled out, swatting Donna's hands out of the way.

Dark black eyes narrowed at the sight of her bruised face and arms. "What the hell happened to you?"

It was hard not to fidget under the King's unforgiving gaze.

"I-there was a hero waiting for me at the GCPD."

"A hero?" He cackled. "Hero? Those tight-wearing freaks are  _not_ heroes.  _They_ are the ones too afraid to use their power for the real good… _themselves._ "

Brittany was starting to think that the King watched too much Star Wars with Sammy but she knew that was impossible. Sam would never let the King anywhere near his Star Wars trilogy. Maybe the prequel trilogy but never the original.

"Was it the Bat?" That would have been just great. If Doolsby was wrong… then the Royal Flush Gang would have to look for a new snitch inside the GCPD and the DA's office.

Scrunching up her face as she recalled the best fight she's had, Brittany replied, "No, she was a she. And she didn't really tell me her name. It was kind of rude."

"A girl?" Supergirl again? Rex shook off the notion. Even Brittany wasn't stupid enough to not mention the Girl of Steel. "And she's new?"

"I've never seen her before. We fought. She's pretty good with the hand to hand. And throwing stuff."

"But you got the drive." He wasn't going to get any more information on the newest vigilante. It could be any of the bat broads. As long as it wasn't the Bat. At the nod of confirmation and the drive safely in his hands, he eyed his daughter again. "Clean up your face. You're off duty for the next couple of weeks."

Brittany bounced up a little in excitement. Vacation time! She could visit the ducks and go shopping and see Rachel again!

"TEN!"

Oops. Brittany stopped bouncing. The happy dance would have to stay in her head.

"As I was saying. There's another charity ball in a couple of weeks' time. Another family appearance so we all have to look our best."

…And dress shopping!

Brittany couldn't wait.

* * *

The awkward silence that arose from Quinn's blunt outburst quickly died with the combined silliness of Puck and Connor. Rachel enjoyed the ease of companionship that emanated from the group. Even the vulgar and slightly scary Santana was nice. At least, Rachel thought, as nice as Santana would get.

It was definitely a lot more affection than her would-be suitor was showing at the moment.

"Hey Rach, you coming with us to get some eats?" Noah called out.

Her phone rang out, interrupting her reply. She looked up at Quinn, apologizing slightly as she answered. Her heart warmed when the blonde gave the softest of smiles along with a gentle hand squeeze in return. Why was Quinn so… confusing in acting on her affections? Did she still have any sort of affection for Rachel?

Was she tired already after only one date? She knew she could be annoying and blunt but Rachel honestly thought Quinn liked her.

The phone's gentle hum of "Defying Gravity" called her out of her void of low-esteem. She made to move further from the group to prevent the intrusion of a loud phone conversation.

Quinn watched Rachel fondly, almost wistfully as the tiny brunette talked on the phone. Her gestures as animated as they are when she talks in person, making Quinn wish she could see Rachel's face whenever they talked on the phone.

"Ugh, you're making me puke rainbows over here, Q."

Rolling her eyes at Santana's attempts at attention, Quinn retorted, "You're just jealous, S."

"Yeah, I'm totally jealous of the moon-eyed, barf-worthy noises ," replied Santana, "except I'm totally NOT, on account of the hot tall blonde chick that made out with me the other day." Santana was huffing out her chest and Puck snickered at her display.

Quinn laughed, "You're still hung up on the mystery mack?"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Puck intervened, "Mystery mack? What the hell happened?"

"Did you get laid?" he asked.

Before Santana could say anything, Quinn stepped up to tell the story, "Santana ran into a girl and she got a make out session because of it. Then the girl ran away. I found her a little bit later still out of it."

They all started to laugh as Santana turned an interesting shade of red and purple. Quinn could tell that she was reigning in all impulses to go 'Gotham Heights Adjacent' on her ass because she had just finished getting her ass kicked for the better part of the afternoon.

Neither Puck nor Santana noticed the high-pitched beeping emanating from Connor's backpack nor had they picked up on Connor's stealthy retreat further behind the rest of the group to answer the Teen Titans comm device.

Quinn heard it and watched her cousin carefully but was instantly distracted when Rachel came back to join the group.

"QUINN!" With the unexpected tackle that accompanied the shrill yell, the tiny brunette was more Amazon than magician but Quinn (being the Girl of Steel) managed to keep her balance.

"Ooof!" She breathed out purposefully. It wasn't as if the petite girl in her arms could actually take the breath out of her…

No, wait. She can actually take the breath out of Quinn. She's been doing it since the first time they saw each other. That's why the superheroine needed to step away from the embrace. It was suffocating in the most painfully sweet way.

"Yo, Q. The midget's got some news and you're just staring like an idiot!"

"Hey!" Rachel pouted. Santana merely grinned and stuck her tongue out in jest.

Quinn managed to regain her senses and stared down at the girl. "What's up Rach?" she asked tenderly.

Rachel grinned widely, so wide that it looked like her face could split in half from sheer joy. "That was Charlie! Zatanna has a magical world crisis to take care of tonight but he still needs somebody to perform the Abracadabra Razzle-dazzle."

"So…" Puck added in, not quite getting the point.

"So, it was either he gets his step-son Howard to beatbox for the night or have me perform as a solo magician!" Rachel started squealing again by the end jumping up and down while in Quinn's embrace.

"Seriously!" Quinn repressed the urge to groan at the intimate contact between them as Rachel's antics caused some lady parts to rub together. Instead she put all thoughts to her almost-girlfriend's recent promotion to solo magician. "That's great!"

Rachel looked up with swirling wide eyes, "Will you be at the show tonight?"

Dear Rao, the girl could have asked Quinn to give her a star and the Kryptonian would have flown to the next star system to get it. Screw the slight distance thing anyway.  _Like it was even working._

"Of co-"

"She can't." Connor interjected, now back from his own call.

Quinn turned a heat-filled gaze at her cousin, making him flinch in fear. "And why is that exactly?" she asked, a calm threat lacing the question with danger.

"I-I just got a call from Tim. He says we need to help him with  _something_."

Seeing Rachel's disappointed face made Quinn sigh, "Do I really need to go?"

"It's a situation, he needs us both." The slight urgency in Connor's tone slipped past the rest of the group but Quinn heard it loud and clear.

"I'm so sorry Rach," she said mournfully, "I really wish I could be there tonight."

Rachel gave a forced grin in return before stepping back, "It's okay. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, our friend Tim just has a midterm tomorrow that he's just not prepared for. Quinn's the best person to help on such a short time."

The blonde super-heroine was surprised at the quick and fairly plausible excuse that her cousin spat out on short notice while Rachel nodded sympathetically.

"Well, education is quite important. Go Quinn, clearly your friend is in need of your expertise." Rachel was sure Quinn wouldn't skip out on purpose and Connor didn't seem like the type of guy that could lie so she decided it would be best to let her disappointment at Quinn go.

It would be best to ignore the ugly voice in the back of her mind that told her it was a lie.

Santana laughed, "Oh I'm sure she would rather have you needing her expertise."

While the couple in question blushed profusely, Puck noticed the disappointment in Rachel's demeanour. "Me and San could go watch your show if you want."

Quinn felt a twitch of jealousy build up as Rachel turned to give Puck and Santana hugs in gratitude. Well, she tried to give Santana a hug but was threatened in a mix of Spanish and Gotham Heights Adjacent slang curses.

There was never a real need to choose between her duties as Supergirl and her responsibilities to her life before Gotham. She just didn't think it would be this painful to leave somebody behind without telling them the whole truth.

"You'll be safe with these two bozos," she assured Rachel, "Puck's a cadet on the GCPD and Santana's just a mean bulldog."

Rachel smiled at Quinn, "You better go and make sure your friend doesn't fail. I'll hold his academic future in your hands."

They laughed as Quinn gave one more farewell hug along with a chaste peck on the check. "I'll call you later."

Once Connor and Quinn were out of sight they flew off into the Gotham night sky.

"Are you going to tell me what was so urgent that I had to make Rachel sad?"

The flash of red in Quinn's eyes made Connor gulp but he stood (flew?) his ground, "It really was Tim on the line. There's a series of wildfires outside of Gotham and in some public park areas in the city. That's why he called us in."

Quinn nodded and focused her angry gaze towards the smoke over the horizon. "Alright, it will be quicker if we split up but keep an ear out for you comm; it sounds like we've got a serial arsonist in Gotham."

"Ivy'll be pissed at Arkham," Connor pointed out. His face scrunched up in thought before he blurted, "Do you think Ivy pisses out chloroform?"

Supergirl snorted and nudged her cousin before they split up to take care of the flames.

* * *

Rachel was situated between the large blockhead and the shorter but no less dangerous pit-bull… not that she would actually voice the apt description aloud.

"Hey Berry, did you like, rip one of Q's precious books or something?"

The girl in question turned to the pitbull Santana in surprise. "Why do you ask that?"

Santana merely shrugged in response, "It kind of looked like she didn't want to touch you… at all."

The sight of Rachel's down-trodden shoulders and adorable pout took both Puck and Santana off guard and they hastened to comfort the girl.

"H-hey! Don't worry about the Ice Queen, Jew-Babe," Puck stumbled through rubbing the doe-eyed brunette's back. "Q's totally into you."

"Yeah," Santana jumped in, not physically comforting Rachel because, well that's just not how she rolled, "and I totally thought that Q was asexual before we saw your show the first time."

Rachel looked up and the taller girl almost took a step back from the sheer vulnerability in those eyes.

"Really?" Rachel pouted, her demeanour screaming 'hug me!'

"Dios mio, yes! Really, really." Santana grimaced at the expectation and closed her eyes while extending her arms towards the shorter brunette, "Come on then."

Rachel jumped a bit, squealing and clapping her hands before pulling Santana in a tight hug. "Thanks."

Santana scoffed, "Whatever." Another pair arms engulfed the two girls and she growled while elbowing the offender. "Puck, if you don't let go of me in the next 2 seconds…"

This time it was Puck that tried to pull out the pouting guns. "But it was totally a Kodak moment."

"I'll shove your Kodak moment right up your freaking ASS you-"

They both stopped their antics once they realized that Rachel was practically curled on the sidewalk from laughing. It sounded like she was choking, snorting and whatever the hell the "AK-AK-AK-AK" noise she was making at the moment.

Santana and Puck exchanged a look. ' _She's all right_ ,' seemed to be the shared sentiment but both knew that Santana would never admit it out loud.

"So Berry," Santana started placing a casual arm around the girl's shoulders, "Can you, like, turn Puckerman here into a literal ass instead of the almost perfect impression he does whenever he opens his mouth?"

Rachel's eyes sparkled with amusement, "Honestly, it's quite easy to transfigure a mammal into a different kind of mammal. Mammals to aviary or aquatic animals or even reptiles are slightly more difficult. As for a literal transmutation from a whole human being to a single body part like a human posterior… I'm not too certain of the proper spells to reverse the effect."

Puck gulped, "Can we please leave me and my fine body alone?"

The two girls burst out in laughter at the pathetic whine. Rachel decided it was nice making friends. The first thing her theatre friends did when they discovered her magickal part-time job was accuse Rachel of spelling her way to GAPA and the freshman school musical. She didn't know what would have happened if Zatanna hadn't interfered. Expulsion was the likely outcome.

These two people were laughing and joking about her freakish nature in good jest. All without the ulterior backstabbing notions. It was indeed a breath of fresh air. Rachel watched the interaction between the two. The ease of camaraderie that came with years of friendship; she could only hope for the same someday.

And maybe this was the start.

Now she just had to figure out the mystery that was Quinn Fabray.

* * *

Jesse St. James was in deep and he knew it. It was supposed to be the easiest job to get in the Cult of Cain. Not to mention it was his dream: actually attending a performance arts school. But it was weeks into the assignment and he was no closer to getting in with Rachel Berry. The only consolation prize was that the increasingly creepy gay predator, Midas wasn't any closer to the "Power."

Hmm… Midas.

Maybe that idiot would have some use after all.

Jesse let loose a decidedly evil laugh.

The epiphany and subsequent plotting was after all, a moment deserving of a good evil laugh and Jesse took pleasure in the dramatics of the situation.

* * *

The strange string of city park wildfires and burning buildings were quickly doused by the Duo of Steel. They offered to help Tim find the culprit but he refused and told them to take the rest of the night off. He would bring it up with the Big Bat.

Superboy and Supergirl flew leisurely through the Gotham skyline as they shook off the remaining soot.

"How's it going with your girl?" Connor blurted out.

"She's not an object Connor," Quinn growled, "And she's not mine."

"Things not going well?" He mimicked her earlier question from the night before, his cheesy grin and waggling eyebrows breaking the tension.

Thoughts of Rachel surfaced once more and Quinn embraced the onslaught with a silly grin, "We went on a date."

Connor whistled, misconstruing the dorky grin on his cousin's face, "Damn that was quick!"

The exclamation snapped the girl back to reality and she frowned. "Quick? Too quick?"

"Too quick for what? Doing her?" he asked, scrunching his face in confusion.

Quinn scoffed. "Do you have to be such a dick about this?"

"Hey, you're the one that went all goofy grin on me. I just assumed you got some."

"Can you at least be a bit more sensitive?"

"Sorry, I'll just pick up some chocolate ice-cream and a tampo- OW Would you STOP HITTING ME,  **PLEASE**!" Connor yelled, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Stop being a jerk then."

"Fine, what's got your primary colored spanks in a twist?"

Quinn fumbled for words, not really knowing where to start. "She's- I- Yes, we went on a date."

"Okay, and…?"

She sighed at the memories, "…It was amazing and perfect and we got kicked out of the place for too much PDA."

Connor sent the girl an incredulous stare, "And you're freaking out because?"

"Because I could fall for her!" She yelled making her cousin float back a bit at the outburst, "Because she's human, fragile and can do magick. Because whenever I'm with her, my powers go haywire and I'm setting things on fire or floating a foot in the air... Which might I add could be potentially castastrophic for all of our identities. She's dangerous and I'm dangerous. And by any standards, human or Kryptonian, these feelings shouldn't be this… strong in this amount of time."

Quinn was huffing by the end of her long-winded rant and Connor just sat there. Now that everything was out in the open, Quinn felt better. A lot better. She looked at Connor who had a pensive face. It was a moment that surrendered any doubt that she had about him being Clark's clone.

"So that's why you were always shrugging her off tonight?"

She nodded and then frowned. "You noticed?" she asked in surprise.

Her cousin rolled his inhumanly blue eyes, "Duh, I think the hotdog vendor we passed on the street noticed how much you were being an ice queen. Your whole act could freeze a furnace faster than our powers can." He noticed her melancholic mood and decided to push further, "So what?"

Quinn arched an eyebrow in response, wordlessly telling him to elaborate.

"Standards. Who needs them? If what you feel is what you feel, why should you let anything get in the way of that? Especially your own thoughts, Brainy."

She didn't know what to believe and Connor saw her doubt.

"Look, when I first busted out of that lab that made me, Cadmus, I fell for this super-hot reporter. Tana. She was my number-one supporter and most of the time, she was my only supporter. She died before we became anything serious and for the longest time she thought of me as 'the kid' but I was head over heels for her."

"Yeah?"

Connor smiled wistfully at the memory of his first love, "Yeah. I regret everything that led to her death and I regret the future we will never have, but I don't regret the time we spent together or the fact that I let her know how I felt everyday. No matter how annoyed she got."

Could Quinn take that chance? With Rachel, everything was on the line. Her heart. Her identity. Would she be able to let it all go for this one human girl?

Connor saw Quinn's forehead scrunch up, less frantic and more thoughtful, so he pushed the matter more. "We don't know what will happen in the future, Quinn. Hell, in the last year I died and came back to life! But we do have the present. So if you're really into this girl, you need to take that chance. People like us don't really get second ones and if we do, they always come with a price."

They didn't speak for a while after that, both absorbed in thoughts of love and regret. Noticing Connor's sullen mood at his flashback of Tana, Quinn flew closer to pat his arm comfortingly.

"You're a great guy, Connor. And I can't imagine a better person to inherit the title of Superman." The underlying sentiment that he would never be another Lex Luthor got through to the teenage clone and he appreciated it.

"Thanks," he replied after a couple of minutes in deep thought. "Now what the hell are you waiting for? You could still catch the rest of Rachel's show!"

Quinn's eyes widened when she realized there was still time. Even if she couldn't make the rest of the show, she was sure that she would be able to catch Rachel backstage again.

Pecking her cousin on the cheek in farewell, the young Kryptonian zoomed off to make the most of the rest of the night.

* * *

"Jesus, Puck, stop drooling over the fishnets!"

They wandered towards the backstage area and Puck raised a sleeve to his mouth and wiped, surprised to find actual drool.

"Oh come on, like you weren't totally fantasizing about-"

"…About what?" A familiar husky voice interjected, making both of them jump.

Santana was the first to recover from Quinn's sudden appearance, "…Totally fantasizing about the moment you turn up and Berry turns you into a toad… Or maybe an STD."

"That doesn't even make sense, S." Quinn replied, rolling her eyes, which she accepted as a usual occurrence when dealing with the sarcastic, abrasive brunette.

"What doesn't make sense is how you can leave those legs for one second because I'd totally want them wrapped around my head like a nice warm and fleshy scarf."

Somewhere in that graphic statement was actual concern for Rachel and that was unexpected. What did Rachel do to make Santana take to her so quick?

"SANTANA LOPEZ!" a familiar voice rang out in unfamiliar fury. They all flinched at the anger that seemed to radiate from Rachel's aura.

"Um, sorry Berry. Just speakin' the truth. It's a compliment, by the way."

"That does not excuse the absolutely abhorrent way in which you-" the rest of her rant died away as Quinn stepped up with a lavish bouquet of beautiful flowers in all colors, shapes and sizes.

"Hey, Rachel." The Girl of Steel greeted timidly.

"Quinn…" And suddenly the rest of the club, its patrons and their friends vanished in Rachel's 'Quinn Tunnel Vision.'

Santana and Puck took it as their cue to go.

It wasn't like the two love-goofs noticed anyway.

"Uh," the blonde shuffled her feet awkwardly, "C-can I-um."

Quinn's shyness hurled Rachel back to the reality of what happened earlier, "So now you want to talk?"

The other girl grimaced at the ice-cold tone in Rachel's voice and recited her alibi, "Yeah. I finished tutoring Tim earlier and left the boys to their bro-date or whatever they called it."

"Then why are you here?" Rachel bit out and Quinn flinched again.

"I wanted to give you these," She raised the flowers again, hands shaking, "And apologize for not being able to make your first solo magic show."

"That's all that you're sorry for?" Rachel looked at Quinn expectantly.

The blonde Kryptonian gulped and briefly wondered if this was the metaphorical "doghouse" or at least perhaps it was the precursor?

"Rachel, about earlier-"

"Earlier? Oh, you mean when you constantly brushed me off whenever you held me? Or when you ignored me before running off the first chance you got?" Rachel's voice became increasingly angry and frantic before breaking off to a weak whisper. "I mean, I know I can be… a lot to put up with but the least you could do is break this off before humiliating me in front of your friends-"

"Hey, who said I wanted to break anything up?"

Rachel averted her eyes, choosing to fix her gaze on the ground instead of on the wispy hazel orbs that belonged to Quinn. "It's only natural right? I'm a freak. Y-you don't even want to touch me anymore. I'm not contagious or something."

The flowers dropped to the floor as Quinn wasted no more time pulling her broken-hearted companion into a more heartfelt embrace than she had at any other point that day. They relaxed into the easy hug and sighed contentedly in unison.

"So you're not mad at me?" Rachel asked apprehensively and the mousey tone pierced the super-heroine's heart faster than Kryptonite.

"No."

"And we're not going to stop- whatever this is?"

"Not a chance."

Rachel bit her lip in confusion, "So… why?"

Quinn pulled back a little in order to get a good look at the girl fitted in her arms. "I was afraid," she admitted quietly.

"Of what?" Rachel raised her head from Quinn's shoulder to study the barely apparent lines of worry on the taller girl's face. She really was so pretty.

"You." The blunt statement came out of Quinn's mouth before she could stop it but followed up, "And us. How it could be possible to be this… attached to you so quickly."

"Oh."

Quinn tightened her hold on Rachel reassuringly before letting go to pick up the bouquet and hold it out once more.

"Will you go out with me again?"

A hesitant hand reached for the peace offering. "Are you still afraid?"

"Of us? Terrified. But I had some good advice."

"And that was…?"

"I don't know what will happen in the future. None of us really do. But I do know that right now, you're the only girl I want to go to the zoo with. The only one I want to sing to me while we slow dance. And you're the only girl that I want to risk braving all these silly fears for. And I know that whatever it is that I'm feeling, it's too important to ignore."

Rachel was a puddle of swoon by the end and couldn't stop herself from latching onto the other girl once more. Lips met lips for the first time in days and both moaned into the kiss.

They would be okay.

A tiny voice reminded Quinn of the rather large S-sized secret that was emblazoned on her chest but she ignored it. There were also the whispers in the back of her mind about the dangers of falling so hard. She tried her best to ignore those too.

Because Rachel Berry was amazing and one of a kind. She was kind and compassionate and innocent. She even made Santana Lopez of all people take a liking to her. That girl had magick so far beyond the literal meaning.

They would be okay, Quinn would be okay, she decided.

They just needed to work on it one day at a time. Get to know each other. Go on dates. Not quite ignoring the intense feelings between them but also not letting it overwhelm them.

One day at a time.

Quinn smiled at the thought of spending everyday working on whatever they had.

She didn't mind that at all.

* * *

THE NEXT NIGHT – SANTANA'S APARTMENT ROOFTOP

She shouldn't be trying this without Puck.

Holding the grappling gun shakily in her hands, she attempted to steady her aim at the next building over. Shit, this should be easier now that she'd done it before. It was easier last time because she was making fun of her newly dubbed sidekick.

Now there was nothing there but her and running thoughts of the laws of gravity in her head.

BANG

She took a baited breath and pushed her body from the rooftop, trusting the momentum and the line to lead her to the building over.

"MOTHER FUCKER!"

Probably not the most eloquent of battle cries but Santana was rushing through the Gotham skyline and trying to avoid the stupid flock of gulls that headed her way.

Her swaying made her miss the intended landing space and Santana scanned the area for safe spot to aim for.

A quick decision to swing herself to a nearby fire escape was the only option and the budding vigilante used all her Cheerio training in order to make the jump.

"Ooof!"

The fire escape ladder proved to be an uncomfortable cushion and an even more unforgiving landing space. The sudden addition of Santana's weight on the ladder was too much for the rusted out notches and the extension barrelled towards the ground with the heroine clutching the bars for dear life.

The force of the impact to the pavement threw her to the ground as well.

She couldn't believe she fucking survived that mess.

Puck would kill her if he found out. Santana scoffed at the thought that passed her mind as she picked herself up and off the ground. This was fucking progress.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?"

Santana whipped around to see a hooded man holding a knife in her direction with a terrified woman tucked under his other arm.

"Mmph!" tears were spilling out of the poor woman's eyes and her face was turning blue. In the darkness, the woman's ripped skirt was swaying with the chilled night breeze.

Santana straightened and cracked her neck. "Why don't you come and find out, you son of a bitch?"

Remembering her embarrassing training lesson the day before, Santana put away the fancy Cheerio tricks in favour of most effective takedown.

The monster was knocked out with kneecaps broken before he could scream.

Santana groaned. Now she had to get Quinn something to thank her for the lesson. Damn it.

"W-who a-a-are y-you?" the small voice from behind the vigilante whispered reverently.

For the first time since before her epic ass-whooping at Batman's hands, the weight of failure and defeat was lifted just a little.

In the huskiest and most mysterious tone she could muster, Santana answered confidently, "A Work in Progress."

Sprinting off into the alley, Santana pulled out the spare grappling gun and fired with no hesitation, allowing the bat-tech to pull her up to the rooftops once more.

**To be Continued in Issue #8**

**Dance With Somebody**

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Issue: Jesse makes his move... on Rachel? Tensions rise as Quinn gets jealous of Jesse and herself?   
> It's the Drs. Lopez Memorial Fundraiser and Santana is on the prowl. What kind of night will it turn up to be with the Wayne's, the Evans' and a Kane? It could only mean big trouble but what else is new? Stay tuned for Issue #8!


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